BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, June 23 (Reuters) – Israeli gunfire killed two people in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, Lebanon’s Civil Defence and state media said, the first reported fatalities resulting from Israeli fire in Lebanon in three days.
A ceasefire between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israeli forces in southern Lebanon has largely held since Sunday, the longest lull yet in the war that spilled over from the conflict between the United States and Iran.
Israeli soldiers opened fire at a group of people near a bulldozer clearing a road in the al-Deir neighbourhood of Nabatieh al-Fawqa in southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported.
The Israeli military said it was checking the report.
Iran insisted Israel cease fire in Lebanon as part of an interim agreement with the United States signed last week.
A joint statement issued on Monday at the end of U.S.-Iranian talks mediated by Pakistan and Qatar in Switzerland said the parties had agreed to create “a de-confliction cell” to ensure adherence to the termination of hostilities in Lebanon.
Since Hezbollah opened fire on Israel in support of Iran on March 2, Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed more than 4,100 people, including 773 women, children and healthcare workers, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The toll does not say how many combatants are among the dead.
Israeli attacks have forced some 1.2 million people from their homes in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities.
Israel’s death toll from this round of hostilities with Hezbollah includes at least 32 soldiers and four Israeli civilians.
(Reporting by Maya Gebeily and Jana Choukeir; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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