An Israeli strike on a vehicle in south Lebanon killed two people yesterday, the health ministry said, nearly 11 months after increased violence between the Hezbollah movement and Israel.
The United Nations Force in Lebanon said one of those killed worked for a cleaning company contracted by UNIFIL.
Hamas ally Hezbollah has exchanged near daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces since the Palestinian group stormed Israel in the first week of October.
“The Israeli enemy’s strike targeting a car in Naqura left two dead,” the health ministry said.
A spokeswoman for UNIFIL said “a vehicle driven by an employee of a cleaning company was targeted by a strike on the Tyre-Naqura road,” adding that the company was contracted to the peacekeeping force.
“Attacks on civilians are violations of international humanitarian law. They must stop. Once more, we urge all actors to put down their weapons,” she said.
A security source earlier told AFP on condition of anonymity that the two victims were “an employee of this company and his cousin, both from Naqura” on the border.
“The cousin, who lives in an African country, arrived in Lebanon two days ago,” the source added.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television channel also reported that the two dead in Naqura were civilians.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported a drone strike on the Naqura road, without elaborating.
There was no immediate Israeli comment about the attack.
Israel has said it targets military infrastructure and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon’s south and east, while the movement says it is mainly targeting military positions in northern Israel.
Fire fighters and rescue teams inspect a charred car that was hit by an Israeli drone strike on the road leading to the southern Lebanese coastal town of Naqura on the border with Israel yesterday, as Hezbollah and Israel continued to exchange shelling.
