Southern Lebanon was attacked by Israel from the air on Friday, killing two people, state media and the Ministry of Health reported, as the Israeli military said it had targeted members of Hezbollah.
According to Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA), one man “was targeted by an Israeli drone with a guided missile while he was driving” along the road to the village of Toul, near the city of Nabatieh.
It said the dead man was Abbas Hassan Karky, calling him “the logistics commander of Hezbollah's Southern Front headquarters”.
The military said Mr Karky had “led efforts to rebuild Hezbollah's combat capabilities” following last year's war with Israel, and that he had also been responsible “for managing the transfer and storage of weapons in southern Lebanon”.
The Health Ministry later reported that another “Israeli strike targeting a car” had killed one person and wounded another, also near Nabatieh.
The Israeli military announced a strike in the same area, saying it had targeted a “terrorist who was involved in efforts to re-establish Hezbollah's military capabilities”.
Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite the November 2024 truce, which sought to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah that culminated in two months of open war.
It has recently stepped up its operations in eastern and southern Lebanon. Drone activity above the capital Beirut has also been intense in the past week, including over the residence of President Joseph Aoun, in what some regard as a threatening message from Israel for Lebanon to step up the pace of its disarmament of Hezbollah.
With a ceasefire largely holding in Gaza, there are fears Israel may now increase its focus on Lebanon.
The latest attack came after at least four people were killed in Israeli bombardments across Lebanon on Thursday. Zainab Moussa, 82, and Maher Younis, 43, were killed and two people injured in Israeli air strikes on Arab Salim in south Lebanon on Thursday night. Two were killed in the Bekaa Valley when Israel bombed the area earlier on Thursday.
Thursday's strikes took place as US Maj Gen Joseph Clearfield, the recently appointed head of the monitoring mechanism of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, was visiting Beirut. Maj Gen Clearfield met President Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during his visit.
The Lebanese officials called for pressure on Israel to stop the attacks.
Lebanon is under heavy US pressure to disarm Hezbollah and reassert state sovereignty. US envoy Tom Barrack said this week that Lebanon's slow progress could lead Israel to “act unilaterally” and launch yet another war on the country.
