Israeli drone strike kills 2 Jamaa Islamiya militants in West Bekaa
An Israeli drone strike on a car in eastern Lebanon killed two people, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.
The Israeli military said it targeted an official with Lebanon’s al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Group, that is allied with Hezbollah. It has been active in predominantly Sunni Muslim villages along Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.
The Israeli military said the man killed was Musab Khalaf. It says Khalaf was behind attacks on Israeli troops in the disputed Shebaa Farms that Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war. The Lebanese government says the area belongs to Lebanon.
An official with al-Jamaa al-Islamiya refused to confirm NNA's report when contacted by The Associated Press. The attack occurred on a road near the eastern village of Maydoun, NNA said without identifying the two killed.
The strike came a day after Hezbollah carried out an attack along the border that killed an Israeli civilian.
Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire on a near-daily basis along the border since the start of the war in Gaza nearly seven months ago. Hezbollah says it is acting in solidarity with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
