A car in flames after an Israeli strike on Houmin Fawqa, South Lebanon, on Nov. 9, 2025. (Credit: Photo obtained by Mountasser Abdallah)
SOUTH LEBANON — The Israeli army continued its daily drone attacks on moving vehicles in south Lebanon on Sunday, killing two people in separate strikes in the Bint Jbeil and Nabatieh districts.
Early in the morning, three missiles hit a pickup truck traveling between Saouaneh and Khirbet Selm in the Bint Jbeil district, killing its driver, according to our correspondent in the region.
Shortly after the incident, the Health Ministry confirmed the death of the vehicle's driver, identified by our correspondent's sources as Hassan Ali Jamil Sultan, from Saouaneh.
Later in the afternoon, a second strike, using the same modus operandi, targeted a car in Houmin Fawqa in Iqlim al-Touffah (Nabatieh district), also killing its driver.
Israeli machine gun fire also hit the outskirts of Alma al-Shaab in the Sour district. The day before, the Israeli army had killed three people identified as Hezbollah members. The first deadly attack struck a car traveling on a road near Rashaya in southern Bekaa, killing two brothers, Hussein Said Kanaan and Mohammed Said Kanaan, from Shebaa (Hasbaya district), according to our correspondent.
A few hours later, a similar strike occurred in the village of Baraaahit (Bint Jbeil), killing one person and lightly injuring three others. The victim was identified as Khalil Karnib from Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil).
Hezbollah later released several statements paying tribute to the deceased and claiming them as party members.
The Israeli army asserted in a statement that these individuals were "involved in attempts to rebuild Hezbollah's military infrastructure in the region" or in "arms trafficking for the party," sharing drone footage of their killings.
Earlier on Saturday morning, another drone strike using two missiles hit a utility truck near the Salah Ghandour hospital in Bint Jbeil, south Lebanon, injuring seven people. Additionally, two bombs were dropped on a construction vehicle in Blida (Marjayoun), after another Israeli drone strike on an excavator during the night.
These new deaths bring the total number of victims from Israeli strikes in Lebanon to 15 in just over a week. This toll also includes on person killed on Nov. 1 who succumbed to wounds sustained the previous day in another strike in south Lebanon.
Would Aoun have to negotiate?
In this context, Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea harshly criticized at a party dinner in Zahle Friday night the open letter sent Thursday by Hezbollah to President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, defending the party’s refusal to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese Army.
"You cannot say 'I want to adopt the choice of resistance or not.' That is not your role ... If the state exists, it's the state that makes these decisions; it decided to centralize weapons within itself and reserve the decision of peace and war to itself alone," said the Christian leader, a staunch opponent of Hezbollah.
"In fact, we've seen where the choice of resistance you have followed has led Lebanon and the Lebanese," he added, referring to Hezbollah's decision to open a support front the day after the outbreak of the Gaza war that started Oct. 7, 2023.
The LF leader accused Hezbollah of failing to respect the cease-fire concluded with Israel in November 2024, since it has not yet handed over its weapons. "You claim to have strictly observed the cease-fire agreement reached about a year ago. This is a clear error," he added.
Geagea also rejected Hezbollah's argument that the Lebanese state would be acting under Israeli and American pressure by pursuing its disarmament. "You claim that we, under American and Israeli pressure, are demanding the dismantling of the 'resistance.' This is false. We — before the Americans, the Arabs, the West, and the Israelis — want a real state. A state can only be real if weapons are centralized and the decision of peace and war is reserved to it alone."
Meanwhile, Kataeb party leader Gemayel said Saturday that "Hezbollah is undermining President Joseph Aoun’s efforts, facilitating Israeli aggression, and clinging to its weapons instead of supporting Aoun’s position in favor of negotiations to protect Lebanon, its sovereignty, and liberation," warning against "the reproduction of the Gaza scenario, with forced displacements and land annexations."
The Kataeb leader stated he was "in favor of any form of negotiation with Israel — whether direct or indirect, political, civilian or military — even if it involves the president, since the essential thing is to put a definitive end to the war in the South."
Reporting by our regional correspondent Muntasser Abdallah.
