An Israeli strike on south Lebanon killed at least three people and injured 23 on Friday, Lebanese official media said, despite a truce with Hezbollah.
The strike hit near the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge, which Israel’s army said it had captured, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA). Hezbollah has not confirmed losing control of the area.
The two young men were “targeted while riding a motorcycle” in the city of Nabatieh, the NNA reported. Rescuers transported their bodies to a local hospital.
Israel announced on Thursday that it had taken control of the ridge. Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces would work to “prevent the group from re-establishing itself in the area”.
Israeli strikes intensified in the Nabatieh region on Friday and also hit the village of Rmadiyeh in the Tyre area, more than 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Israeli border, the NNA said.
The strike on Rmadiyeh, which is sheltering people displaced from other parts of the south, hit a house and wounded four people, a rescue service source told AFP.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire since March, when the Iran-backed group entered the wider Middle East conflict by attacking Israel in support of Iran.
Israel responded with air strikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says has killed more than 4,300 people.
The fighting has eased since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding and a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon were reached in June. However, Beirut continues to report Israeli strikes.
Imran Riza, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, said on X on Friday that families returning to Nabatieh after the truce “face widespread destruction, lack of basic services, ongoing insecurity and uncertainty”.
Katz said Friday that the Israeli military had cleared Hezbollah fighters from tunnels beneath the Ali al-Taher ridge.
Israel had said Hezbollah fighters were positioned in tunnels under the ridge, which overlooks a wide area and became one of the most fiercely contested locations during the conflict.
Reuters reported on Thursday that Iran had warned the United States last month that it would respond forcefully to an Israeli attack on Hezbollah positions in the area.
Hezbollah did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Reuters was unable to independently verify the status of the ridge.
Israel has expanded its military presence across large parts of southern Lebanon since launching a new campaign against Hezbollah in March.
On Friday, Israeli authorities handed over four people detained in Israel to Lebanese authorities through the International Committee of the Red Cross.
