Israeli drone strike kills 1, injures 3 near Beirut
KHALDEH, Lebanon — An Israeli drone strike hit a car on a highway in the town of Khaldeh just south of Beirut, killing one person and injuring three others, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported Thursday.
The Israeli army said in a statement that it had targeted 'a saboteur who was involved in arms smuggling and advancing terrorist plots against Israeli citizens and the Israeli Defense Forces on behalf of Iran's Quds Force.'
It was not immediately clear if the target of the strike was the person killed.
A U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal nominally ended the latest war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in November, but Israel has continued to launch near-daily airstrikes in Lebanon since then against what it says are officials and facilities of Hezbollah and other militant groups. Hezbollah has claimed one strike fired across the border since the ceasefire.
Most of the Israeli strikes have been in southern Lebanon, but Israel has also struck a handful of times in Beirut's southern suburbs since the ceasefire. Thursday's strike was in a congested area close to Lebanon's only commercial airport.
Nearly 250 people were killed and 609 wounded in Israeli attacks in Lebanon between Nov. 28 — the day after the ceasefire took effect — and the end of June, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
Also Thursday, Hezbollah members and supporters held a funeral in Beirut's southern suburbs for the former bodyguard and head of security of Hassan Nasrallah, the group's longtime leader. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut last year, while his former bodyguard was killed in Iran during last month's Israel-Iran war, along with his son.
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Hussein Malla, The Associated Press
Associated Press staff writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.
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