Two Lebanese Killed in Israeli Drone Strike on Car in East Lebanon

Violence continues to rage on the Israel-Lebanon border on Friday with three killed. An Israeli drone strike near the village of Maydoun in eastern Lebanon killed two. This followed an earlier Hezbollah attack near Mt. Dov in which a civilian was killed.

The Israeli military reported that one of those killed near Maydoun was Musab Khalaf, affiliated with al-Jamaa al-Islamiya and accused of directing recent attacks on Israeli troops in the contested Shebaa Farms area.

Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya is a Sunni political party, with links to the Muslim Brotherhood. It is a small party, but troubles Israel enough that the IDF seeks to eliminate members in Lebanon’s east.

The attack on Maydoun followed overnight Hezbollah anti-tank rocket attacks along the border region. The man slain was identified as Sharif Suad, a civilian truck driver who was helping construct a land barrier along the border.

Suad’s project manager expressed surprise at the attacks, noting that “most often Hezbollah fires at the soldiers,” and doesn’t go after civilians, even those working at the border areas.

The tit-for-tat strikes come just a day after another Israeli drone strike in eastern Lebanon, which wounded the driver of a fuel truck. That attack was near the city of Baalbek, a common target for Israeli forces in the area.

Such attacks are a near daily occurrence along the Israel-Lebanon border and are leading to a growing number of casualties on both sides. There is palpable fear that the escalation in recent weeks could lead to a full-scale ground invasion by Israeli forces.