The U.S. government on Thursday imposed sanctions on several Lebanese officials it accused of supporting Hezbollah, along with individuals linked to the sanctioned Alaa Hassan Hamieh business network, Reuters reported.
Washington said the measures were taken over alleged efforts to undermine Lebanon’s peace process and delay the disarmament of Hezbollah.
The U.S. Treasury Department said its Office of Foreign Assets Control was also designating individuals in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Oman who it said were raising funds and operating front companies to generate revenue for Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, as reported by Reuters.
Lebanon says Israeli strikes kill three
Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed three people on Thursday, according to Lebanese state media, coming just hours after the United States and Iran reached an agreement aimed at ending the wider Middle East conflict, AFP reported.
"An enemy drone targeted a car" in the Kfar Tebnit area, killing two people, the official National News Agency (NNA) reported.
In the neighbouring village of Zebdine, another drone killed one more person, NNA said.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military said one of its soldiers was killed the previous night in an incident in southern Lebanon, which also left seven other troops injured, AFP reported.
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March by attacking Israel to avenge the killing of the Islamic republic's supreme leader at the start of the US-Israeli campaign.
Israel retaliated with broad strikes across Lebanon and by launching a ground invasion in the south, which borders Israel and has long been under Hezbollah's sway.
The hostilities have continued despite the US-Iran agreement, and Hezbollah said on Thursday that its fighters had repelled a four-day Israeli offensive towards the Ali al-Taher hills and Kfar Tebnit, in south Lebanon.
The Ali al-Taher hills are a strategic height overlooking the town of Nabatieh and are believed to hold important Hezbollah positions.
(With inputs from Reuters)
