Lebanon says Israeli strike kills six, including child

An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon has killed six people, including two rescuers and a child, the Lebanese health ministry said, despite a fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

In a statement, the ministry said that "six people were martyred" including two rescuers from the Risala Scouts association, one of them also working as a freelance photographer, and a Syrian girl in a strike on Deir Qanun al-Nahr village.

The association is linked with the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement.

An earlier strike on the southern town of Hanaway also killed four rescuers from the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Committee, the ministry said.

Lebanon's military said its soldiers were loyal to the institution after the US announced sanctions that included, for the first time, an army officer accused of sharing information with Hezbollah.

In a statement, the army said it "affirms that all officers and members of the military institution are performing their national duties with utmost professionalism, responsibility, and discipline, in accordance with the decisions and directives issued by the army command".

It emphasised that "the loyalty of military personnel is solely to the military institution and the nation, and that they are committed to fulfilling their national duties without any other considerations or pressures", also saying it was not informed of the sanctions beforehand.

The US sanctioned what it called nine Hezbollah-linked individuals in Lebanon, including army colonel Samir Hamadi, and Khattar Nasser Eldin, an officer at another state security service.

The US said Hamadi and Nasser Eldin "shared important intelligence" with Hezbollah over the past year.

It marked the first time Lebanese officers have been sanctioned by the US.

Hezbollah yesterday condemned the sanctions, calling them "an attempt to intimidate the free Lebanese people in order to bolster the Zionist aggression against our country".