July 6 (Reuters) – Four people were killed by an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon on Monday, Lebanon’s state news agency reported, testing a fragile ceasefire in the conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.
The Israeli military said it was checking the report.
Lebanon has suffered the deadliest spillover of the U.S.-Iran conflict since the Lebanese group Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran on March 2, triggering an Israeli offensive and invasion of southern Lebanon.
After several ceasefire announcements since April, violence abated significantly last month, as Iran insisted on its demand for a Lebanon ceasefire in talks with the U.S., and as Israel scaled back attacks in Lebanon at Washington’s behest.
Lebanese security sources said Monday’s strike marked the deadliest Israeli attack in several weeks.
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) identified those killed as the principal of a school in the town of Nabatieh al Fawqa, her mother, their foreign domestic worker and a Syrian labourer. They had been inspecting the family’s home in the town, when the drone fired a guided missile at their vehicle, killing all four instantly, NNA reported.
An interim agreement between the United States and Iran signed last month requires both countries and their allies to end military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon.
(Reporting by Tala Ramadan in Dubai, additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Writing by Tala Ramadan and Tom Perry in Beirut; Editing by Gareth Jones, Alexandra Hudson)
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