An Israeli drone strike was reported Tuesday on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Shebaa, killing two people, a father and son. A third person, who was also a son, was reportedly injured in the strike.
Lebanese media reports identify the slain as Mohammad Kanaan and Wael Kanaan. Mohammad, the father, was identified as a shepherd, and his son was reported to be a Lebanese Army soldier. The other son, who was wounded but survived, was not identified publicly.
The reports suggest they were moving south of Shebaa toward the grazing lands, which is adjacent to the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms area. The Israeli drone struck before they were able to reach those lands.
As is so often the case, the IDF’s statement was that they were both “terror operatives,” with one of them a Hezbollah member and the other a member of the “Lebanese Resistance Companies.” It was not clear from the statement which was supposed to be which.
The IDF alleged that when they were moving toward the grazing lands they were actually “handling weapons for terror purposes” and “observation of IDF soldiers.” They said their presence amounted to a violation of the ceasefire.
Nothing Israeli officials said included any actual evidence that the two slain men were involved in any terror operations, and the IDF statement neither addressed that they were identified as a shepherd and his son, nor that they injured a second son in the attack.
Israel has carried out thousands of strikes against Lebanon since the ceasefire went into effect in November. When they do address those strikes, they generally argue that Hezbollah is the one actually violating the agreement by having people present in areas that were struck.
