ISTANBUL 

Five people, including three children, were killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon on Sunday, in the latest violation of a ceasefire agreement, the Health Ministry said.

A ministry statement said two more people were injured in the attack that targeted the Bint Jbeil district in Nabatieh.

In a military statement, the Israeli army claimed to have targeted a Hezbollah member, who “operated from within a civilian population.”

The army said that it regrets “any harm to uninvolved individuals,” noting that the incident is under investigation.

For his part, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun 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, which claimed the lives of five martyrs, including three children," the state news agency NNA quoted Aoun as saying.

The president called on the international community to stop Israeli violations of international law and force it to withdraw from the Lebanese borders under a ceasefire agreement.

"There is no peace over the blood of our children," Aoun added.

A ceasefire was reached in November 2024 following an exchange of cross-border attacks between the Hezbollah group and Israel since October 2023. The exchange escalated into a full-scale Israeli war by September 2024, killing more than 4,000 people and injuring around 17,000.

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.