Two people killed in Israeli strike on Lebanon's Bekaa Valley

JALAA MAREY/ AFP

Two people were killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley area, the Lebanese health ministry said on Friday, after the Israeli military said it had struck several Hezbollah targets there overnight and along the Syrian-Lebanese border.

The Israeli army said in a statement that the targets included a facility used for underground weapons development and another linked to arms smuggling into Lebanon from neighbouring Syria.

The Israeli military statement did not mention casualties.

Lebanon's health ministry said 10 people were also wounded. Its tolls do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Hezbollah official Ibrahim Moussawi condemned the air raids, calling them "a very dangerous violation and a blatant and explicit aggression" and called on the Lebanese state to halt Israel's attacks.

The strikes were the latest by Israel in Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreement reached in late November between Israel and Hezbollah that ended more than a year of fighting between the two heavily-armed foes.

The agreement calls for the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon and says that all "unauthorized arms" and military infrastructure should be dismantled, starting with southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah, however, has insisted that the agreement applies exclusively to southern Lebanon.

The deal also called for Israeli troops to leave southern Lebanon within 60 days, but that period was extended this week to February 18 to give more time for Israeli troops to pull out and for Lebanese troops to deploy to the area.

Israel says Lebanon has not yet fully implemented the deal's terms and also specifically accuses Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire.

On Thursday, Israel said it had intercepted a surveillance drone launched by Hezbollah, calling it "a breach of the ceasefire agreement". Hezbollah declined to comment.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Monday his group would "not accept any justification" to extend the deadline for Israeli troops to withdraw - but the group has not directly threatened to resume military operations.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati has condemned Israel's continued strikes, and the country's US-backed military has accused Israel of procrastinating in its troop withdrawal.

The Israeli military has ordered some southern Lebanese areas near the border still out of bounds to residents and on Sunday Israeli forces killed two dozen people who had been attempting to return to their homes in defiance of those orders.

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