Two killed in Israeli drone attack in eastern Lebanon

Strike comes hours after a previous Israeli attack the night before, in ongoing near-daily ceasefire violations.

Two people have been killed in an Israeli drone strike on a minibus in eastern Lebanon as near-daily ceasefire violations continue, Lebanese state media reported.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) said on Thursday that the drone hit the vehicle on the Hosh al-Sayyed Ali road in the Hermel district.

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Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah reached a ceasefire in November 2024 after more than a year of cross-border attacks amid the genocidal war in Gaza – however, Israel has been staging attacks on Lebanon nearly every day since.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee claimed on X that Thursday’s strike targeted a “terrorist operative” in al-Nasiriyah in eastern Lebanon.

The attack came hours after a passerby was injured in an Israeli drone strike targeting a car in the town of Jennata in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon late on Wednesday.

Israel has killed more than 300 people in Lebanon since last year’s ceasefire, including about 127 civilians, according to the United Nations. Between January and late November, Israeli forces carried out nearly 1,600 strikes across Lebanon, according to data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

It justifies its near-daily air raids under the pretence of targeting fighters from Hezbollah and its infrastructure, calling for the group’s full disarmament under the ceasefire agreement.

Hezbollah still defiant as disarmament deadline looms

Hezbollah, meanwhile, has long rejected disarmament, saying its weapons are necessary to defend Lebanon against Israeli attacks and occupation. On Wednesday, the group urged the Lebanese government to reject Israel’s threats to disarm the group amid fears of Israeli escalation in Lebanon.

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

More than 64,000 people, mostly from southern Lebanon, remain displaced, according to the UN.

In a statement last week, the Lebanese presidency stressed that enabling displaced Lebanese civilians to return to their villages and homes was “an entry point for addressing all other details” of the ceasefire agreement.

Israeli attacks, meanwhile, continue against the backdrop of US-brokered diplomatic talks between Israel and Lebanon. Civilian and military delegations from Israel and Lebanon met in the southern town of Naqoura last Friday in closed-door discussions.