BEIRUT: Lebanon on Thursday said that an Israeli strike in the eastern part of the country killed at least five people, marking the latest attack despite a ceasefire agreement reached in November in the ongoing conflict with Hezbollah.
“The Israeli strike on Masnaa Road resulted in a preliminary toll of five deaths and ten injuries,” the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement. The state-run National News Agency reported that the strike hit a vehicle in the area, near a border crossing with Syria.
The reported strike came as Lebanon’s government was discussing Hezbollah’s disarmament.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah in a statement said it will disregard a decision by Lebanon’s government to task the army with establishing a state monopoly on arms.
“We will treat this decision as if it does not exist,” Hezbollah said in a statement on Wednesday, describing it as a “grave sin”.
US envoy welcomes Lebanon decision
US Envoy Tom Barrack on Thursday said the Lebanese government had taken a “historic” decision this week by moving to disarm Hezbollah, which Washington has pushed for.
In a post on X, Barrack congratulated Lebanese leaders “for making the historic, bold, and correct decision this week to begin fully implementing” a November ceasefire which ended more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and neighboring Israel, and stipulated that weapons in Lebanon be restricted to government agencies only.
“This week’s Cabinet resolutions finally put into motion the ‘One Nation, One Army’ solution for Lebanon. We stand behind the Lebanese people,” Barrack said.
