Beirut [Lebanon]: At least five people, including three children, were killed in an Israeli drone strike on the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. The attack comes despite a US-brokered truce in place since November.
According to Al Jazeera, citing Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA), the strike hit a motorcycle and a vehicle, leaving two others injured.
Lebanon’s Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri confirmed that the three children—Celine, Hadi, and Aseel—and their father were US citizens. Their mother survived with injuries.
Israel acknowledged civilian casualties but claimed the strike also killed a Hezbollah member. Al Jazeera noted that Israel regularly targets Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, arguing it is preventing the Iran-backed group from regaining strength after losing most of its senior leadership, including longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah, in the last war.
“Is it Lebanese childhood that poses an existential threat to the Israeli entity?” Berri asked, accusing Israel of unchecked killings that endanger global peace and security.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam denounced the strike as “a new massacre.” A former president of the International Court of Justice, Salam called it “a blatant crime against civilians” and an act of intimidation aimed at displaced families returning to their homes in the south. He urged the international community to strongly condemn Israel’s repeated violations of international law.
Labour Minister Mohamad Haidar accused Israel of deliberately targeting residents who had gone back to southern Lebanon after more than a year of conflict linked to Israel’s war on Gaza. “This plan will not succeed, because the will of the people of the south is stronger than the criminal machine,” he said.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that the US, Saudi Arabia, and Hezbollah’s political rivals in Lebanon have been pressuring the Shia group to disarm. Earlier this month, Lebanon’s army submitted a proposal to the government to begin Hezbollah’s disarmament.
Hezbollah, however, insists it will not give up its weapons, arguing that disarmament would leave Lebanon vulnerable while Israel continues its strikes and maintains control over parts of the south.
