UPDATE - 3 killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire

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By Betul Yilmaz and Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) – Three people were killed when Israeli airstrikes hit a motorcycle and two vehicles in southern Lebanon on Sunday, in the latest violation of last year’s ceasefire agreement, authorities and local media said.

The Health Ministry said in a statement that an Israeli strike targeted a motorcycle in the town of Yater in the Bint Jbeil district, killing one person and wounding another.

Another person was killed when an Israeli drone hit a car in the town of Jouaiya in Tyre, the ministry said.

The state news agency NNA said that an Israeli drone struck a vehicle between the towns of Safad El-Battikh and Baraachit in the Nabatieh governorate, leaving one person dead.

The Israeli army claimed that its forces killed two Hezbollah members in separate attacks in Yater and Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.

The army said it carried out a third strike around midday targeting an additional Hezbollah member, adding that the results of that attack were “being examined.”

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah on the Israeli statement.

The attacks came amid reports that Lebanon had received warnings from Arab and international parties on Israeli preparations to launch a large-scale offensive in Lebanon.

A ceasefire was reached between Tel Aviv and Beirut last year after more than a year of attacks against the backdrop of the war in the Gaza Strip. More than 4,000 people were killed, and 17,000 others were injured.

The Israeli army was supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon this January under the ceasefire, but instead only partially pulled out and continues to maintain a military presence at five border outposts.