Despite truce, Israel kills 3 in Nabatieh

BEIRUT — Despite the fragile calm that prevailed Thursday morning in southern Lebanon, a few days after the cease-fire brokered Saturday night between Hezbollah and Israel took effect, three people were killed in an Israeli strike in the Nabatieh district.

In the middle of the afternoon, an Israeli drone targeted a car traveling between Zawtar and Mayfadoun, killing three people and injuring one, according to information from our correspondent in southern Lebanon. This is the third deadly attack of this kind since the truce took effect. Concentrated mainly in the Nabatieh region, these strikes have left seven dead in five days, including two on Tuesday and two on Wednesday.

In its daily report, the Health Ministry announced that 19 additional deaths had been recorded in the past 24 hours, as several people died from injuries sustained in previous Israeli strikes. The death toll since the resumption of the war on March 2 now stands at 4,230 killed and 12,179 wounded by Israeli attacks.

Israeli occupation forces still present in Ain Arab

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation forces remained inside the border village of Ain Arab (Marjayoun district) in the eastern sector after threatening its residents — about 57 families — with exile on Wednesday, according to the village's mokhtar (elected civil registry official), Othman al-Ahmad, speaking to our correspondent in the area.

According to the official, Israeli military vehicles circulated daily in the village, morning and afternoon. "Five Israeli vehicles were seen today driving through the village streets," he said. A fire also broke out in the heart of the village, producing heavy smoke, the mokhtar reported, without being able to determine the cause, whether it was burning houses or something else.

In the morning, the Israeli occupation forces announced the death of one of its soldiers, a member of the Golani Brigade, in a road accident in southern Lebanon. According to military radio, the accident took place overnight near Robb Thalathin, a village in the Marjayoun district located in the eastern part of the border area occupied by Israel. In total, 37 soldiers and one Israeli contractor have dropped dead in southern Lebanon.

Reporting by our correspondent Muntasser Abdallah