Israeli strikes kill 2 brothers south of Sour after deadly weekend in the South

After an especially deadly weekend, two brothers were killed Monday afternoon in an Israeli drone strike on a sawmill in the town of Biyad, south of Sour in southern Lebanon, bringing the death toll from similar raids since Thursday to 14.

The Israeli strike "caused the death of two brothers," reported our correspondent in the region, Mountasser Abdallah. The Health Ministry confirmed this toll.

The Israeli air force has intensified its strikes in recent days, claiming to target Hezbollah members or infrastructure, despite the cease-fire that came into effect on Nov. 27, 2024, ending more than 13 months of war between the two sides.

The night from Sunday to Monday was also marked, in the South, by new incursions of Israeli ground forces into Lebanese territory.

An army construction vehicle and several tanks entered the so-called "al-Marj" site, between Odaisseh and Markaba, in the Marjayoun district, to carry out earthwork, according to our correspondent.

Five bulldozers also crossed the Blue Line toward Wadi Hunin to erect an earthen wall.

'No threat'

At the same time, the Israeli army accused the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Monday of having shot down one of its surveillance drones in Kfar Kila (Marjayoun district) the previous day, during a "routine" mission in the south of the country.

"An initial investigation suggests that the UNIFIL forces stationed nearby deliberately fired at the drone and brought it down," wrote Lieutenant Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli army spokesperson, on the social network X, saying that an investigation is underway to examine the circumstances of the incident.

He also emphasized that "the drone's activity posed no threat" to U.N. peacekeeping forces. "Following the destruction of the drone, Israeli army troops threw a grenade toward the area where the drone crashed. No shots were fired at UNIFIL forces," he said.

On Sunday evening, the peacekeepers stated they had taken "defensive countermeasures" against an Israeli army drone that was flying aggressively over a patrol.

A UNIFIL spokesperson confirmed to L’Orient-Le Jour that the Israeli drone that crashed in Kfar Kila was shot down by the peacekeepers while they were patrolling the area.

The U.N. force said that this act constituted a "countermeasure" against the drone, which "was acting aggressively" toward the peacekeepers.

According to our correspondent in southern Lebanon, the battalion involved in this incident was of French nationality, a detail UNIFIL declined to confirm.

Reacting to the incident, the French Foreign Ministry condemned "the shootings that targeted a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon detachment" on Sunday, recalling that these "incidents" followed "others observed on Oct. 1, 2 and 11, when the Israeli army had already targeted UNIFIL positions."

"France recalls that the protection of peacekeepers, the safety and security of United Nations personnel, property and premises must be ensured, in accordance with international law and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701," the Ministry said in a statement.

"UNIFIL must be able to fully implement its mandate and exercise its freedom of movement," the text added.