2 Dead in Strike on Car in South Lebanon

This picture taken from a position near the northern Israeli border with Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment in south Lebanon, on May 16, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken from a position near the northern Israeli border with Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment in south Lebanon, on May 16, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
TT

2 Dead in Strike on Car in South Lebanon

This picture taken from a position near the northern Israeli border with Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment in south Lebanon, on May 16, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken from a position near the northern Israeli border with Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment in south Lebanon, on May 16, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

Lebanese state-run media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country's south on Thursday killed two people, with Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers saying at least one of them was a group member.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily fire since Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, now in its eighth month.

"Two people were martyred in the raid that targeted a car on the Ramadiya-Qana road," the official National News agency (NNA) said, after earlier reporting a drone strike.

A rescuer from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health committee said an Israeli strike on a car in Qana had killed two young men, including a member of the Iran-backed movement.

Hezbollah earlier said it had launched "more than 60" rockets at Israeli military positions in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights in retaliation for overnight strikes that killed a Hezbollah member who Israel said was a field commander.

The strikes were "in response to the Israeli enemy's attacks last night on the Bekaa region" in eastern Lebanon's Baalbek area, it said in a statement.

The Israeli army later said it had identified about "40 launches" from Lebanon towards the Golan Heights that caused no injuries before striking back at the sources of the fire.

According to AFP, it reported several more attacks from Lebanon on northern Israel, to which it had also responded with strikes.

Later, the Israeli military said an explosive drone launched from Lebanon hit the Metula area, severely wounding one soldier and lightly wounding two more.

Hezbollah said it had fired an "attack drone carrying two "S5" rockets" that targeted a vehicle at a position in Metula.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
TT

US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.