Israel has killed more than 100 civilians in Lebanon since ceasefire, UN says

BEIRUT — An Israeli drone strike on southern Lebanon killed one person and wounded five on Wednesday as the U.N. rights chief said that Israeli strikes on its northern neighbor have killed more than 100 civilians in 10 months. Volker Türk called for renewed efforts to bring a permanent end to hostilities in Lebanon following the 14-month Israel- Hezbollah that ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in late November. The drone strike on a car in the southern Lebanese village of Kafra killed on person and wounded five, Lebanon's health ministry said. It was not immediately clear who the dead person was. Türk's office said that until the end of September, they have verified 103 civilians killed in Lebanon since the ceasefire. There have been no reports of killings from projectiles fired from Lebanon toward Israel since the ceasefire, the office said. "We are still seeing devastating impacts of jet and drone strikes in residential areas, as well as near U.N. peacekeepers in the south," said Türk, who is the United Nations' high commissioner for human rights. More than 80,000 people remain displaced in Lebanon as a result of the ongoing violence, Türk said, adding that some 30,000 from northern Israel reportedly remain displaced. Since the ceasefire, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes on Lebanon, saying it is targeting Hezbollah members. On Sept. 21 an airstrike on the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil killed five people, including three children. Türk called for an independent and impartial investigation into the incident, along with other incidents which raise concerns about compliance with international humanitarian law. The most recent Israel-Hezbollah war killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, and caused an estimated $11 billion worth of destruction, according to the World Bank. In Israel, 127 people died, including 80 soldiers. The war started when Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in an escalating conflict that became a full-blown war in late September 2024.