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Five people, including three children from the same family, were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil on Sunday, marking the latest violation of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said it "struck and eliminated" a Hezbollah operator but acknowledged that "several uninvolved civilians" were also killed in the strike.
"The Israeli army regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible. The incident is under review," the military said in a statement.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri claimed that four U.S. citizens—a father and his three children—were among those killed, with the mother wounded and in critical condition. However, a U.S. State Department spokesperson disputed this claim.
"While the situation is fluid, so far, indications are that the five killed were not U.S. citizens. In fact, one had an unused immigrant visa petition in the past," the State Department spokesperson told CNN.
Lebanese state media reported that the Israeli drone fired two missiles at a motorcycle and a Mercedes car. The father and his children were killed in the car, while the motorcyclist, described as the apparent target of the strike, was also killed.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam described the attack as a "blatant crime against civilians and a message of intimidation aimed at our people returning to their villages in the south."
He urged the international community to condemn Israel "in the strongest terms for its repeated violations of international resolutions and international law."
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, currently in New York to attend the UN General Assembly (UNGA), condemned the continued Israeli violations.
"While we are in New York to discuss peace and human rights issues, Israel is continuing its ongoing violations of international resolutions, most notably the cessation of hostilities agreement, by committing a new massacre in Bint Jbeil," Aoun said in a statement.
"There is no peace over the blood of our children," he added.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said it was "shocked and outraged by the killing of three children from the same family in an airstrike in South Lebanon" in a post on X on Sunday.
"Attacks on children are unconscionable," UNICEF added. "No child should ever pay the price of conflict with their life. Hostilities must cease immediately to ensure the protection of every child."
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The strike represents the latest in a series of Israeli military operations in Lebanon despite the November ceasefire agreement.
Under the truce, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by January, but it only partially pulled out troops and maintains a military presence at five border outposts.
The ceasefire was reached following more than a year of cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israel that escalated into a full-scale war by September 2024, killing over 4,000 people and injuring around 17,000.
Lebanon is under pressure from the United States, Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah's domestic rivals to disarm the Iranian-backed group.
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