Israel continued attacks against southern Lebanon on Tuesday, with a drone strike against a van in the southern town of Aitaroun killing one person and wounding at least three others. One of the injured was a child, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, and the person slain hasn’t been conclusively identified.
Israel, however, quickly labeled the person a “Hezbollah platoon commander.” Israel officials have not provided evidence that this was the identity of the person, and Hezbollah has not commented on having lost a member today, which would be unusual if it was someone as highly ranked as Israel alleges.
Being named a high ranking Hezbollah commander is virtually a matter of course when anyone gets hit by an Israeli airstrike, at least to the extent that Israel identifies them at all. In practice, quite a few confirmed civilians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire went into effect in November.
The UN has reported that 71 Lebanese civilians have been killed by Israeli strikes since the ceasefire began. This included 14 women and 9 children. The UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for an investigation into every military action resulting in civilian deaths.
Despite the ceasefire being meant to end cross-border attacks, Israel has launched near daily strikes on southern Lebanon. In addition to the strike against Aitaroun, there were also Israeli attacks against the town of Mays al-Jabal, where Israeli ground troops opened fire, and an Israeli drone dropped a grenade against farmers outside of Ayta ash-Shaab.
Israel has not commented on either of those attacks, only mentioning the Aitaroun one. They similarly have yet to make concrete comments on their attacks on Sunday and Monday, including ground invasions deeper into Lebanese territory and a Palm Sunday incident in which a military bulldozer demolished a statue of Saint George in Yaroun.
The operator of the bulldozer took video of himself destroying the statue, which has subsequently gotten substantial international attention as it became public, sparking concerns of anti-Christian measures by Israeli invasion forces.
