Lebanon says four US citizens killed, including three children, in Israeli drone strike

An Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon has killed five people including three children, the country's health ministry said.

Four of those killed, including the children and their father, held US citizenship, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said.

Two others were wounded, including the children's mother.

Mr Berri said: "The blood of these Lebanese, including those who hold American citizenship, is a matter for those who were meeting in Naqoura and for the global demonstration that has begun to converge on the United Nations.

"Is it Lebanese childhood that poses an existential threat to the Israeli entity? Or is it the behaviour of this entity, killing without restraint or accountability, that constitutes a threat to international peace and security?"

The Israeli military said it was targeting a Hezbollah terrorist who "operated from within a civilian population".

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) acknowledged "several uninvolved civilians" were killed and said the incident was being reviewed.

"The IDF is operating against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation and will continue to act to remove any threat posed to the state of Israel," it said in a statement.

Pictures from the scene in Bint Jbeil showed a destroyed Mercedes.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who earlier landed in New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, condemned the strike and called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop.

Mr Aoun, alongside the country's prime minister Nawaf Salam, endorsed an agreement last month that would gradually disarm Hezbollah.

"There is no peace above the blood of our children," Mr Aoun said in a statement from his office.

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Mr Salam called the attack a "message of intimidation targeting our people returning to their villages in the south".

The war between Hezbollah and Israel killed around 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced residents across southern and eastern areas of the country.

Under the US-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah and Israel were supposed to withdraw their forces from southern Lebanon and halt strikes against each other.

Israeli forces have continued to occupy five Lebanese hilltop points by the border.

Israel frequently says it is targeting Hezbollah militants or infrastructure in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah has only claimed firing across the border once since the ceasefire, but Israel says the militant group is trying to rebuild its capabilities.

Hezbollah officials say the ongoing strikes justify their refusal to give up their arms, and claim that the ceasefire agreement and monitoring mechanism with the US, France, and United Nations peacekeeping forces is ineffective.

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