BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on a vehicle at the southern entrance of Beirut killed one man and wounded three other people on Thursday, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, as the Israeli army said it hit a “terrorist” working for Iran.

The attack is the latest despite a November ceasefire that sought to end over a year of hostilities between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

The Lebanese health ministry said in a statement that “the Israeli enemy’s attack on a car in Khalde resulted in a preliminary toll of one martyr and three people wounded”.

According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, “an enemy drone targeted a car on the Khalde highway” south of Beirut.

The Israeli army said it “eliminated a terrorist responsible for smuggling weapons and advancing terror attacks against Israeli civilians and (Israeli) troops, on behalf of the Iranian Quds Force”, the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. A photographer saw a half-burnt car on the crowded highway as the Lebanese army sealed the area off. Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon since the ceasefire in November, usually claiming to be going after Hezbollah targets.

Israel warned in June that it would keep striking Lebanon until the group has been disarmed.

Last week, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech that the “ongoing aggression” by Israel “must not be allowed to continue”.

Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region. 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.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2025