Lebanese movers carry furniture salvaged from a damaged apartment as residents return to Beirut's southern suburbs. AFP
Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli troops demolished homes in the towns of Bayyada and Naqoura and blocked roads leading to several other villages in the south.
It also reported that Israeli forces had begun demolishing houses in the border town of Bint Jbeil on Saturday, alongside other nearby areas where Israeli troops remain deployed.
An Israeli soldier was killed in southern Lebanon in an incident that wounded nine soldiers when an Israeli vehicle ran over an explosive device planted by the Lebanese resistance in an area in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli army has been deployed for weeks, according to reports.
Another succumbed on Saturday to injuries incurred in another incident.
In a separate development, a French peacekeeper serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was killed and three others injured after a patrol came under fire in southern Lebanon.
French President Emmanuel Macron said indications pointed to responsibility by Hezbollah, although the group denied involvement, calling the accusations “rushed” and “baseless” and urging an investigation.
Hezbollah said responsibility should not be assigned before Lebanese army findings, and called for continued coordination between UNIFIL, the army and local communities in southern areas.
Last month, the UN mission reported Israeli occupation forces firing warning shots at a convoy of peacekeepers in Lebanon, and said three Indonesian peacekeepers were killed in separate incidents in southern Lebanon last month.
The attack was not the first in which UNIFIL accused Israel of endangering its peacekeepers.
In November, UNIFIL said Israeli troops fired at its personnel from a tank near a position in southern Lebanon despite an earlier ceasefire arrangement, adding that it had repeatedly raised concerns over risks to peacekeepers.
Short link: