Israel warns 2 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of strikes

TEL AVIV Israel AP The Israeli military has warned two villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate buildings close to what they reported are Hezbollah sites as tensions between Israel and militant groups escalate At least people have been killed in Lebanon in the past day by Israeli strikes against what the military explained were militant sites belonging to groups associated with Hezbollah and Hamas THIS IS A LATEST NEWS UPDATE AP s earlier story follows below SIDON Lebanon AP An Israeli airstrike on a car in southern Lebanon on Wednesday killed one person and wounded including students aboard a nearby bus the Medical Ministry and state media commented The strike in the village of Tiri came hours after an Israeli drone attack on the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in southern Lebanon killed people and wounded several others The Tuesday night strike was the deadliest among scores of Israeli attacks since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war a year ago State-run National News Agency explained a school bus with students happened to be passing near the car that was hit Wednesday morning The bus driver and several students were wounded the review mentioned The identity of the person who died in the car wasn t instantly clear The Israeli military did not comment Wednesday In the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp just outside the port city of Sidon life appeared normal Wednesday but Lebanese agents prevented journalists from entering At the scene of the strike paramedics searched for human remains around a wall that was stained with blood Several cars were burnt and broken glass and debris littered the ground On Tuesday night the Israeli military disclosed it struck a Hamas training compound that was being used to prepare an attack against Israel and its army It added that the Israeli army would continue to act against Hamas wherever it operates Hamas condemned the attack and denied in a comment that the sports playground that was hit was its training compound Palestinian factions in Lebanon s refugee camps earlier this year began handing over their weapons to the Lebanese state The ruling body has announced that it will also work on disarming Hezbollah but Hezbollah has rejected it as long as Israel continues to occupy several hills along the territory line and carries out almost daily strikes The U S has not long ago increased pressure on Lebanon to work harder on disarming Hezbollah and canceled a planned trip to Washington this week by Lebanese army commander Gen Rudolph Haikal A senior Lebanese army officer described The Associated Press that U S personnel were angered by an army announcement on Sunday that blamed Israel for destabilizing Lebanon and blocking the Lebanese military deployment in south Lebanon The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn t authorized to speak publicly The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon two months ago that severely weakened Hezbollah followed by a ground invasion That war the largest part latest of several conflicts involving Hezbollah over the past four decades killed more than people in Lebanon including hundreds of civilians and caused an estimated billion worth of destruction according to the World Bank In Israel people died including soldiers Mroue disclosed from Beirut Source