Israeli strike on south Lebanon kills two: ministry

An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed two people on Saturday, the Lebanese health ministry said, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

In a statement, the health ministry said that an "Israeli enemy" drone strike on a car in Kunin, South Lebanon, killed one man in a preliminary toll.

A woman succumbed to "severe wounds" as three other people were also wounded in the attack.

The Israeli army claims it killed a Hezbollah commander, Abbas al-Hassan Wahbi.

“Earlier today, the [Israeli army] attacked and eliminated terrorist Abbas al-Hassan Wahbi, intelligence chief in Hezbollah’s ‘Radwan Force’ battalion,” the army said.

“The terrorist was involved in attempts to rehabilitate the Hezbollah terrorist organisation and transfer weapons, actions that constitute a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee claimed on social media that the army "did not target any civilian building", attributing the death to a Hezbollah rocket set off by an Israeli strike without providing any evidence.

The Israeli military said it had "identified rehabilitation attempts made by Hezbollah beforehand and struck terror infrastructure sites in the area".

Adraee said the civilian building "was hit by a rocket that was inside the (fire and defence array) site and launched and exploded as a result of the strike".

The attack comes a day after Israel killed a woman and wounded 25 other people in strikes across the country's south.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that the woman was killed in an Israeli drone strike on an apartment in the city of Nabatiyeh.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on social media that the army "did not target any civilian building".

The Friday attacks included a "wave of successive heavy strikes" in the Nabatiyeh region which injured seven people, according to the NNA.

The Israeli military said it "identified rehabilitation attempts made by Hezbollah beforehand and struck terror infrastructure sites in the area".

Adraee said the civilian building "was hit by a rocket that was inside the (fire and defence array) site and launched and exploded as a result of the strike".

Israel has repeatedly bombed its northern neighbour despite the November ceasefire that aimed to end over a year of hostilities with Hezbollah.

The group's leader, Naim Qassem, said in a televised speech on Saturday that the "ongoing aggression" by Israel "must not be allowed to continue".

"The (Lebanese) state must exert pressure, and it must fulfil all of its duties," he said, insisting Hezbollah had held up its end of the ceasefire bargain.

"Do you imagine we will remain silent forever? No. Everything has its limits."

Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region.

Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five locations in south Lebanon that it deems strategic.