BEIRUT: Lebanon鈥檚 health ministry said a woman was killed and 20 other people were wounded in Israeli strikes Friday in the country鈥檚 south, as Israel鈥檚 military said some raids targeted Hezbollah sites.
Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, particularly in the south, since a November 27 ceasefire meant to end over a year of hostilities, including two months of all-out war that left Hezbollah severely weakened.
鈥淭he Israel enemy strike on an apartment in Nabatiyeh led to a preliminary toll of one woman killed鈥 and 13 other people wounded, the ministry said in an updated statement carried by the official National News Agency.
The NNA said an Israeli drone targeted the apartment.
The agency earlier reported 鈥渁 wave of successive heavy strikes鈥 in several other areas in the Nabatiyeh region that the health ministry said wounded seven people.
An Israeli army statement said fighter jets struck a site that Hezbollah used 鈥渢o manage its fire and defence array in the area of the Beaufort Ridge鈥, near Nabatiyeh and the Israel border.
It said the site was 鈥減art of a significant underground project that was completely taken out of use鈥 by the raids.
The military said it 鈥渋dentified rehabilitation attempts made by Hezbollah beforehand and struck terror infrastructure sites in the area鈥, calling the actions 鈥渁 blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon鈥.
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Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in a statement condemned the strikes and said Israel continued 鈥渢o disregard regional and international resolutions and calls to stop the violence and escalation in the region鈥, urging 鈥渆ffective action from the international community鈥.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in a statement called the strikes 鈥渁 blatant violation of national sovereignty and the cessation of hostilities arrangements鈥 and a threat to stability.
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the area.
Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five locations in south Lebanon that it deems strategic.
In a letter to the United Nations requesting a one-year renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon which expires in August, the foreign ministry demanded 鈥淚srael鈥檚 withdrawal from all Lebanese territory it occupies and a stop to its ongoing violations鈥.
On Thursday, Israeli strikes on south Lebanon killed two people, with the Israeli military saying it targeted Hezbollah operatives.