Israeli drone strikes in southern Lebanon: two killed and one injured

BEIRUT — Two people were killed and another wounded on Sunday in three separate Israeli drone strikes targeting the towns of Beit Lif, Arnoun, and the Aita al-Shaab area in southern Lebanon, according to information from our local correspondent and the Health Ministry.

In the afternoon, a strike on a motorcycle in Arnoun, in the Nabatieh district, killed the rider. According to the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, the victim was an active Hezbollah member, in charge of “the missile defense unit for the Arnoun area.” Later in the evening, a drone struck a van on the road connecting Aita al-Shaab to Debel, in the same district, killing the driver. In Beit Lif, in the Bint Jbeil district, a strike targeted a car, injuring the driver.

Gunfire in Houla

Elsewhere, two people survived Israeli gunfire in Houla (Marjayoun) while inspecting their home. A stun grenade dropped by a drone also landed in the village of Ramieh in the same area, according to our correspondent.

The Lebanese Army, for its part, reopened the road between the towns of Houla and Markaba (Marjayoun), two days after it was blocked by the Israeli army using barbed wire and rocks. The army has reopened the route for its own vehicles but is not allowing civilian passage, due to the proximity of an Israeli position on Lebanese territory and the presence of Merkava tanks in the area.

Also in the morning, Hezbollah buried one of its fighters, Mohammad Jamoul, in Deir Zahrani. He was killed Saturday morning in a drone strike. A large crowd accompanied the coffin, wrapped in the party’s yellow flag, through the streets of the town.

Despite the cease-fire that has been in effect for over six months, the Israeli army continues to carry out regular strikes on Lebanon — mainly southern Lebanon and, occasionally, the Bekaa Valley or Beirut’s southern suburbs. These strikes have killed at least 171 people, according to our count.