BEIRUT (AFP): Lebanese official media said Israel struck a vehicle in the south on Wednesday, killing one person — the first death since Israeli troops withdrew from most of the border area a day earlier.
“An enemy drone struck a vehicle… in the town of Aita al-Shaab,” near the southern border, the official National News agency said, reporting one person was killed.
It had earlier said one person was wounded in the Wazzani region, elsewhere along the frontier, after Israeli forces opened fire “while residents were inspecting” restaurants and cafes in the area.
The NNA also reported Israeli automatic weapons fire towards homes near the town of Shebaa.
A November 27 ceasefire deal had halted more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah including two months of all-out war.
Under the deal, Lebanon’s military was to deploy alongside UN peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period that was later extended to February 18.
Hezbollah was to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border, and dismantle remaining military infrastructure in the south.
Israel announced just before the deadline that it would temporarily keep troops in “five strategic points” near the border.
The army said they were hilltops overlooking the frontier where troops would remain to “make sure there’s no immediate threat.”
Lebanese leaders said Tuesday they were in contact with ceasefire brokers the United States and France to press Israel to fully withdraw, branding its continued presence in five places an “occupation.”
The UN called the incomplete pullout a violation of a Security Council resolution.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned in November that Israel would maintain “full military freedom of action” in case of any truce breach.
