UPDATE - 2 killed in Israeli drone strike in eastern Lebanon despite ceasefire

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS, CHANGES DECK

By Naim Berjawi, Mohammad Sio, Betul Yilmaz

BEIRUT / ISTANBUL (AA) – Two people were killed on Thursday when an Israeli drone struck a minibus in eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, marking a new violation of a ceasefire agreement in place since last year.

According to the state news agency NNA, the drone hit the vehicle on the Hosh al-Sayyed Ali road in the Hermel district.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee claimed on the US social media company X that the strike in al-Nasiriyah in eastern Lebanon targeted Hussein Mahmoud Mershed Al-Jawhari, whom he described as “a prominent operative” in the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The army also claimed to have struck a Hezbollah member in Al-Jumayjimah area in southern Lebanon.

NNA said an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle in Safad El-Battikh town in Bint Jbeil district, injuring one person.

Several Israeli warplanes flew at high altitude over the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon and the surrounding towns before withdrawing toward the southeast, the outlet said. Drones were also reported flying over Beirut’s southern suburbs and the surrounding areas.

Thursday’s attacks came hours after a passerby was injured in an Israeli drone strike targeting a car in the town of Jannata in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon late Wednesday.

Israel and Lebanon reached the ceasefire in November 2024 after more than a year of cross-border attacks amid the war in Gaza. More than 4,000 people were killed, and 17,000 others got injured.

Under the ceasefire, Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon in January but have only partially pulled out, maintaining a military presence at five border outposts.