BEIRUT/WASHINGTON(National Times)- Israeli strikes in south Lebanon killed three people on Thursday, according to Lebanese state media, hours after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war.
“An enemy drone targeted a car” in the Kfar Tebnit area, killing two people, the official National News Agency (NNA) reported, raising an earlier toll of one dead.
In the neighbouring village of Zebdine, another drone killed one more person, NNA said.
Israel’s military, meanwhile, announced the death of one of its soldiers the night before in an incident in south Lebanon that also left seven others wounded. Since Iran and the US announced they had reached an agreement on Monday, there has been a sharp decrease in the level of violence in Lebanon.
South Lebanon operations
The Israeli military said on Thursday it will continue operating in southern Lebanon and “remove threats” beyond its so-called security zone, after the US and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war, including in Lebanon.
The military published a map of its declared “security zone” — which runs some 10 kilometres (six miles) inside Lebanese territory. It said troops would continue to be deployed there “to remove threats and strengthen the defence of Israel’s northern residents”.
In a later statement, an Israeli military official said the army “will continue to remove threats to IDF soldiers and the civilians of the State of Israel that are identified beyond the security zone”.
The announcement came after the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday meant to end the Middle East war, with fighting supposed to be halted on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
The military official on Thursday called on the Lebanese Armed Forces to operate in coordination with Israeli forces and urged Lebanese civilians to avoid entering the security zone.
US sanctions
The United States on Thursday sanctioned two prominent Lebanese officials as well as companies associated with a business magnate over allegations that they obstructed the country’s peace process and delayed the disarmament of Hezbollah.
The designated individuals include the leader of the Marada political movement, Sleiman Frangieh, and high-ranking Hezbollah political bureau member Mahmud Qamati. The disarmament of Hezbollah has been a key demand of the United States and Israel, and Lebanon’s government has ordered the powerful group to lay down its weapons.
Hezbollah, however, has rejected that decision and repeatedly demanded Lebanese authorities abandon direct talks with Israel being hosted in Washington.
The US government alleged that Frangieh had used his political alliance with Hezbollah to further his party’s parliamentary objectives. Frangieh is a Lebanese Christian politician, former minister, and leader of the Marada Movement, a political party in northern Lebanon.
