Israeli strikes kill four in Lebanon after alleged Hezbollah drone launch

Lebanon said Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon killed four people on Sunday in the latest escalation despite a months-long ceasefire.

Israel alleged that the strikes were in response to Hezbollah launching drones against its troops in the country's Israeli-occupied south.

Lebanon's health ministry reported two people killed in south Lebanon's Nabatieh al-Fawqa and two women killed in nearby Arab Salim.

It said 20 other people, including several women and three children, were wounded in those locations as well as in the city of Nabatieh and the town of Kfar Rumman, adding that the toll was provisional.

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Israel's army said it was striking south Lebanon after Hezbollah fighters launched two drones towards Israeli soldiers operating in Israel's self-declared "security zone" in the south. It did not report any troop casualties.

Shortly before the statement, Israel's military had issued its first "evacuation" notice in Lebanon in several weeks, warning residents near a building it identified as a Hezbollah "facility" in Arab Salim to leave their homes of an attack on the site.

It did not issue warnings for other areas where strikes were reported.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said that after the Israeli warning for the building, "enemy warplanes launched a strike on another house, destroying it" and killing the two women.

It said the Israeli military subsequently "carried out a strike on the home" threatened in the evacuation warning.

'Security zone'

The NNA said a strike in Nabatieh al-Fawqa destroyed part of the Ghandour hospital, adding that it had been out of service for years.

It also said a heavy air strike on Nabatieh city targeted a historical building and damaged offices belonging to state finance and agriculture authorities, while shops and cafes in the vicinity were also damaged.

It also reported a strike on a motorcycle in the area.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in March after Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the US-Israeli war against the Shiite group's ally Iran.

Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people and driven more than a million more from their homes.

Israeli troops are still operating inside a self-declared "security zone" around 10 kilometres deep inside Lebanon along the border. Israel in June released an updated map expanding this occupied zone.

Violence has lessened since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding on the broader conflict in June, while Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement later that month.

But Lebanon still reports Israeli strikes, artillery shelling and broad demolitions of civilian buildings in southern villages and towns.

On Friday, Israeli strikes in the country's south and east killed four people, including an 18-year-old woman, authorities said, as Israel said it struck Hezbollah targets in response to a drone launch towards its soldiers.

Earlier this week, Israel said it had taken "operational control" of the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge near Nabatieh.

Hezbollah has not commented on the announcement or confirmed that Israel has captured the site.

Also this week, the International Committee of the Red Cross facilitated the transfer to Lebanon of five people detained by Israel.

Israel and Lebanon began direct negotiations after the latest hostilities erupted, with fresh talks expected this month, though no date has been announced.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)