Two Killed in Southern Lebanon, First Fatalities in Three Days

Israeli gunfire killed two people in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, according to Lebanon's Civil Defence and state news agency NNA. Soldiers opened fire at a group near a bulldozer clearing a road in the al-Deir neighbourhood of Nabatieh al-Fawqa. The Israeli military said it struck armed terrorists who posed an immediate threat to its soldiers in the Ali al-Taher ridge area, within a security zone it has declared in southern Lebanon.

It was not immediately clear whether the two accounts described the same incident.

Tuesday's deaths were the first reported fatalities from Israeli fire in Lebanon in three days. A ceasefire between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israeli forces has largely held since Sunday, the longest lull yet in the war that began when Hezbollah opened fire at Israel on March 2 in support of Tehran.

Hezbollah condemned the shooting as a violation of the ceasefire agreement and said it killed two people and injured others.

Officials stated that any violation of the memorandum of understanding in Lebanon would create challenges for peace talks. Israeli forces remain deployed deep inside southern Lebanon. Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed more than 4,100 people, including 773 women, children and health-care workers, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, and have displaced some 1.2 million people.

Israel's death toll from this round of hostilities includes at least 32 soldiers and four civilians.