Two killed in Israeli drone attack in eastern Lebanon

As near-daily ceasefire violations continue, two people have died in an Israeli drone strike on a minibus in eastern Lebanon, according to Lebanese state media.

The drone struck the vehicle on the Hosh al-Sayyed Ali road in the Hermel district on Thursday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

After more than a year of international attacks in the genocidal war in Gaza, Israel and the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah reached a ceasefire in November 2024. Since then, Israel has attacked Lebanon almost daily.

A “terrorist operative” was the target of the Israeli military’s attack on al-Nasiriyah in eastern Lebanon, according to Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli military.

A drone strike by Israel that targeted a car in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon late on Wednesday caused a passerby to suffer injuries.

Approximately 127 civilians have been killed by Israel in Lebanon since the ceasefire ended last year, according to the UN. Almost 1,600 Israeli forces targeted Lebanon between January and late November, according to information gathered by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).

It justifies its nearly daily airstrikes by claiming to be aimed at Hezbollah’s fighters and its infrastructure and demands that the organization be completely deposed under the ceasefire agreement.

As the deadline for disarmament approaches, Hezbollah is still defiant.

Hezbollah has argued that its weapons are necessary to protect Lebanon from Israeli attacks and occupation for a long time. In light of concerns about an Israeli-led escalation in Lebanon, the group demanded on Wednesday that the Lebanese government reject Israel’s threats to disarm the organization.

The organization urged the authorities in Lebanon to take a stand and refrain from following the enemy’s orders to humiliate our army and people and violate our sovereignty.

Meanwhile, the government of Lebanon has claimed that the country is close to finishing the Lebanese group’s disarmament project south of the Litani River before the end of the year.

In addition to a ceasefire, Israeli forces were scheduled to leave southern Lebanon in January, but they only partially, continuing to maintain a military presence at five border crossing points.

More than 64, 000 people are still displaced, according to the UN, the majority from southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese presidency stated in a statement last week that the ceasefire agreement’s “entry point” should be “an entry point for addressing all other details.”