BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, June 3 (Reuters) – Israeli drone strikes killed at least six people in southern Lebanon and targeted a car just south of Beirut on Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said, while Israel said it intercepted a hostile aircraft likely fired by Hezbollah.
Hostilities have continued despite a U.S.-mediated agreement announced on Monday that led Israel to step back from attacking the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, and the Iran-backed group to halt cross-border strikes.
The Israeli military said the hostile aircraft had crossed into northern Israel from Lebanon. An Israeli military spokesperson said it was most likely a drone launched by Hezbollah. The group issued no claim of responsibility.
Lebanese security sources said Israeli drones struck at least 10 vehicles across south Lebanon on Wednesday. One raid on the road near the coastal city of Tyre killed six people, the Lebanese health ministry and Lebanese state media said.
Another struck a car on the main coastal highway in the Khalde area, several km (miles) south of Beirut, wounding two people.
There was no immediate response from the Israeli military to Reuters’ questions about the drone strikes.
Wednesday marked the closest attack to Beirut since U.S. President Donald Trump asked Israel not to hit the Lebanese capital, under the agreement announced by him and the Lebanese embassy in Washington on Monday.
AVERTING FURTHER ESCALATION
The diplomatic moves aimed to avert further escalation of the war that has raged since March 2, when Hezbollah opened fire in solidarity with Iran, which was under U.S.-Israeli attack.
Iran has demanded a ceasefire in Lebanon as part of any agreement with the U.S. to end the wider war, and has suggested in recent days that it could intervene directly in support of Hezbollah if Israel keeps up or escalates attacks in Lebanon.
Israel pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, early in the war but has carried out only two strikes there since Trump declared a Lebanon ceasefire in April. Iran’s military on Monday warned residents of northern Israel they should flee if Israel attacked Beirut.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Israel would strike the southern suburbs if northern Israel was attacked.
Hezbollah said it had carried out 13 operations against Israeli forces on Tuesday in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops are occupying a self-declared security zone.
The Israeli military issued new warnings to residents of six villages and towns in southern Lebanon, telling them to leave their homes because it intended to act against Hezbollah.
Nearly 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli attacks since March 2, including a total of 705 women, children and medics, Lebanon’s health ministry says. The health ministry toll does not say how many combatants are among the dead.
Israel says 26 of its soldiers and four civilians have been killed in Hezbollah attacks since March.
Lebanese and Israeli government representatives are due to meet in Washington later on Wednesday for a second consecutive day of talks, their fourth face-to-face encounter facilitated by the United States since the war began.
The Lebanese government is attending despite Hezbollah objections.
(Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Ahmed Elimam in Dubai, Alexander Cornwell in Jerusalem; Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Writing by Tom PerryEditing by Gareth Jones)
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