BEIRUT: An Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle and a car on Sunday in the densely populated town of Bint Jbeil, south of the Litani River, Lebanon, killing five people, including three children and their father.
Their mother was critically injured, in addition to the motorcycle driver, according to the operations center at the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun, who is in New York to participate in the UN General Assembly, condemned the killings.
Pro-Hezbollah news websites reported that the family targeted by the raid was “the family of Shadi Sobhi Marwa, who was martyred along with his children, Celine, Hadi and Aseel.” (Supplied)
“While we are in New York to discuss issues of peace and human rights, here is Israel persisting in 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,” he said.
Aoun called on “the international community, whose leaders are present in the halls of the United Nations, to exert every effort to stop violations of international resolutions, especially the states sponsoring the Nov. 27, 2024 Declaration, and to pressure Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory and abide by the aforementioned declaration. There is no peace above the blood of our children.”
Pro-Hezbollah news websites reported that the family targeted by the raid was “the family of Shadi Sobhi Marwa, who was martyred along with his children, Celine, Hadi and Aseel.” The family holds American citizenship. The motorcycle driver who was also killed is Mohammed Majed Marwa. The websites confirmed that he had no political affiliations.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said: “The blood of Lebanese citizens with American citizenship is for those who gathered in Naqoura and for the global demonstration that began at the United Nations.
“Does Lebanese childhood represent an existential threat to the Israeli entity, or is this entity’s behavior of killing without deterrence that constitutes a threat to international peace and security?”
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam considered what happened “a flagrant crime against civilians and a message of intimidation targeting our people returning to their villages in the south.”
Salam called on “the international community to condemn Israel for its repeated violations of international resolutions, and on the countries sponsoring the agreement to cease Israeli attacks to pressure it to immediately halt its attacks and withdraw from the occupied Lebanese territories and the release of prisoners.”
Members of the Lebanese Army Engineering Regiment blew up an Israeli drone operating on the outskirts of the Aita Al-Shaab town.
Meanwhile, an Israeli force penetrated the border town of Ramya on Saturday night, blowing up more homes before withdrawing at dawn.
Over the past week, Israel killed several Hezbollah members with its drones: Ammar Hayel Qusaybani, the commander of Hezbollah’s Sinai Complex, was killed in an airstrike on his hometown of Ansar; Hussein Hassan Ramadan, a Hezbollah member, was killed in an airstrike on Tibnin; Hassan Shahrour was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car in the Khardali-Marjayoun area; and Muhammad Yassin was killed in an airstrike targeting his car between the towns of Toulin and Burj Qalawieh in southern Lebanon.
The new Israeli escalation came hours after US envoy Morgan Ortagus left Beirut for New York, following her participation in a meeting of the Mechanism for the Supervision of the Implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement between Beirut and Tel Aviv in Naqoura, southern Lebanon.
A source said that Ortagus “expressed broad American interest in providing unconditional support to the Lebanese army, affirming Washington’s commitment to stability in Lebanon.”
The Lebanese side informed Ortagus that “repeated Israeli violations hinder any serious efforts to restrict arms control to the state, and the American delegation expressed understanding for Lebanese concerns.”
As Hezbollah prepares to commemorate the first anniversary of the assassination of its two secretaries-general, Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, next week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a Cabinet meeting on Sunday that “Israel’s victories over Hezbollah have opened a window to a possibility that was not even imaginable: The possibility of peace with our northern neighbors,” referring to Syria.
