One dead in Israeli drone strike in Braasheet, Bint Jbeil district

SOUTH LEBANON — An Israeli army drone targeted a vehicle with two missiles on the outskirts of Braasheet in the Bint Jbeil district early Friday afternoon, killing one and critically injuring another, according to our correspondent in South Lebanon.

The victim was named Ali Koussan, a native of Aitaroun, a village neighboring the site of the strike, and was a member of Hezbollah, according to an announcement from the party. The Israeli army has so far not commented on the strike.

Several hours earlier, a man identified as a member of the municipal council of Dhaira, in the Sour district, was wounded by Israeli machine gun fire in that village. The man was hospitalized.

Elsewhere, during the night from Thursday to Friday, Israeli artillery fired flares over Kouroum al-Mrah, on the outskirts of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun district). Tensions had already escalated on Thursday, with the Israeli air force carrying out a series of bombings in several regions of South Lebanon, while a drone strike killed a man in Aita al-Shaab, who was identified as a Hezbollah fighter by the party.

In Aita al-Shaab, residents appeal to the government

In this village in the Bint Jbeil district, residents urged the Lebanese authorities to take "serious" measures to protect people in the region from Israeli attacks.

Despite the cease-fire agreement that took effect Nov. 27 after more than 13 months of devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel, Israeli strikes continue almost daily in South Lebanon and, to a lesser extent, in the Bekaa. Since the truce, these attacks have killed at least 282 people, according to a count by the U.N. and L'Orient Today.

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"Not a day goes by without a youth from our village being a direct target of the Israeli enemy. The most recent is the martyr Moustapha Harissi, killed in blatant violation of all international conventions and charters, amid an official silence that borders on complicity by negligence," residents of the area said in a statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency.

Aita al-Shaab is adjacent to the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel. The Lebanese Army is intensifying its efforts to dismantle Hezbollah's arsenal in South Lebanon, as set out in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which underpins the current truce.

Residents of the village, where Hezbollah remains highly influential, also addressed the president, the prime minister, the speaker of parliament, and the Army command: "We hold the state responsible for the consequences of this chronic abandonment." They even threatened to "take measures in the future to protect ourselves, defend our land, our dignity, our security, and our right to life."

Reporting by our correspondent Muntasser Abdallah.