1 killed in Israeli drone strike on vehicle in southern Lebanon

​​​​​​​By Abdelraouf Arnaout and Rania Abu Shamala

JERUSALEM /ISTANBUL (AA) - One person was killed Friday in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in the Tyre District in southern Lebanon, marking a new violation of a ceasefire agreement, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency NNA

The Israeli army claimed that the strike assassinated a field operative from the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah.

“An enemy (Israeli) drone targeted a vehicle in the town of Al-Abbasiya” in the Tyre District, said the NNA.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army said in a statement that it killed Mohammad Khidr Al-Husseini, whom it described as “the commander of the fire system in the Litani sector for Hezbollah” during the strike.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon since November, which ended months of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated into a full-scale conflict in September.

Lebanese authorities have reported nearly 3,000 Israeli violations of the truce, including the deaths of at least 217 victims and injuries to more than 500.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by Jan. 26, but the deadline was extended to Feb. 18 after Israel refused to comply. It still maintains a military presence at five border outposts.