Israeli forces are still occupying some villages in the eastern part of south Lebanon, claiming Hezbollah was still present near the border [Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty]
Three Turkish nationals were killed in an Israeli strike as they tried to cross from Lebanon into Israel, Ankara confirmed on Wednesday night, without giving reasons why they made the attempted crossing.
The news was initially reported by Lebanese media and then confirmed by Turkey’s foreign ministry.
“We condemn in the strongest terms this unlawful attack that resulted in the death of our citizens,” the ministry said in a statement, without mentioning when the incident took place.
Procedures are underway to repatriate their bodies to Turkey, the ministry said.
“As we have emphasised on every occasion, Israel must immediately end its aggressive policies that disregard human life and escalate tensions in our region,” the ministry said.
Separately on Wednesday evening, an Israeli drone strike targeted a house in the village of Yohmor-Shqif near the Litani River in south Lebanon. No casualties were reported but the house sustained some damage, according to footage shared online.
The demolition of homes and infrastructure and the burning of crops in several southern Lebanese border villages has been persistent since the war between Israel and Hezbollah ended in a US-brokered ceasefire on 27 November.
Israel seeks to completely clear out the border region as part of its scorched earth policy, claiming it is dismantling all Hezbollah infrastructure. It claims to have targeted a Hezbollah arms vehicle in an air raid earlier this week which wounded two dozen people in the southern city of Nabatiyeh.
Under the ceasefire, Israel was supposed to completely withdraw from southern Lebanon on 26 January, while Hezbollah cleared the area, and the Lebanese army deployed heavily across the region.
But Israel announced it would not respect the ceasefire deadline, claiming Lebanon was slowly implementing the agreement, and that Hezbollah was still present near the Israeli border.
The deal was extended to 18 February following US mediation. It came after Israeli forces killed over 20 people last Sunday when southern Lebanese villagers, backed by the Lebanese army, headed to their destroyed towns to try and enter them by force, managing to liberate some of them.
Israel still occupies 13 villages and territories along south Lebanon’s eastern side – in an area adjacent to northern Israel’s Galilee Panhandle – down from more than 70 it was still occupying when the war ended.
Since storming their towns and villages on Sunday – on the initial ceasefire deadline – residents have remained in close proximity to Israeli forces in some areas. Israel has warned civilians against approaching its troops present in the area.
