A deadly Israeli drone strike on southern Lebanon killed five people on Sunday, including four US citizens — a father and his three children — in what Lebanese officials are calling a “massacre.”
The strike has drawn international condemnation, inflamed tensions between Israel and Lebanon, and reignited concerns over civilian safety amid ongoing cross-border clashes.
According to the Lebanese government, the strike occurred in the town of Bint Jbeil, a Hezbollah stronghold near the Israeli border. Israeli forces confirmed they had targeted and “eliminated” a Hezbollah operator in the area but admitted that “several uninvolved civilians” had been killed in the process.
“The IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible. The incident is under review,” Israel’s military said in a statement.
Lebanese officials identified the victims as a Lebanese-American father and his three young children, all of whom held US citizenship.
Their mother was critically injured in the attack and remains hospitalized. The family had reportedly returned to southern Lebanon to visit relatives and were driving in a Mercedes car when the missiles struck.
Lebanon’s Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, issued a statement mourning their deaths, describing the incident