Israel says killed Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon

GAZA: Israel’s military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander on Saturday in south Lebanon, where authorities reported one dead in the fourth Israeli strike within days despite a November ceasefire.

Lebanon’s health ministry said one person was killed in an Israeli “drone strike” on a vehicle in south Lebanon’s Tyre district.

An AFP correspondent saw the charred wreckage of a vehicle in Abu al-Aswad, an area around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces “struck and eliminated… a commander” involved in “the re-establishment of Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure” in south Lebanon.

Gaza rescuers say 10 killed as Israel announces new operation

Israel has continued to launch strikes on its neighbour despite the November 27 truce which sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah militants including two months of full-blown war.

The Israeli military said that “the rebuilding of terrorist infrastructure and related activity constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”

Under the ceasefire, the Iran-backed Hezbollah was to pull back its fighters north of Lebanon’s Litani River and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure to its south.

Israel was to withdraw all its forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems “strategic”.

Earlier this week, the Israeli military said three separate strikes in south Lebanon targeted Hezbollah operatives.

Lebanon says it has respected its ceasefire commitments and has urged the international community to pressure Israel to end its attacks and withdraw all its troops.

Likewise, Israel’s airforce also killed at least 146 Palestinians in new attacks on Gaza over the past 24 hours and injured many more, local health authorities said on Saturday, as the country appeared set to press ahead with a new ground offensive.

it may be noted that Israeli strikes since Thursday have seen one of the deadliest phases of bombardment since a truce collapsed in March.

The latest strikes came as US President Donald Trump ended his Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire.

“Since midnight, we have received 58 martyrs, while a large number of victims remain under the rubble. The situation inside the hospital is catastrophic,” said the director of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, Marwan Al-Sultan.