Lebanon says 1 killed, 25 wounded in strikes as Israel blames death on Hezbollah arms

Lebanon's health ministry said a woman was killed and 25 other people wounded in Israeli strikes Friday in the country's south, while the Israeli military blamed Hezbollah munitions for the death.

Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, particularly in the south, since a November 27 ceasefire meant to end over a year of hostilities, including two months of all-out war that left Hezbollah severely weakened.

An "Israel enemy strike on an apartment in Nabatiyeh" killed a woman and wounded 14 other people, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official National News Agency.

The NNA said an Israeli drone targeted the apartment.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on social media that the army "did not target any civilian building".

The NNA earlier reported "a wave of successive heavy strikes" in several other areas in the Nabatiyeh region that the health ministry said wounded seven people.

Later Friday, the ministry said four more people were wounded in an "Israeli drone strike" in Shaqra, elsewhere in the country's south.

An Israeli military statement said fighter jets struck a site that Hezbollah used "to manage its fire and defence array in the area of the Beaufort Ridge", near Nabatiyeh and the Israeli border.

It said the site was "part of a significant underground project that was completely taken out of use" by the raids.

The military said it "identified rehabilitation attempts made by Hezbollah beforehand and struck terror infrastructure sites in the area", calling the Iran-backed group's actions "a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon".

The Israeli military's Adraee said the civilian building "was hit by a rocket that was inside the (fire and defence array) site and launched and exploded as a result of the strike".

'Blatant violation' 

"The Lebanese government bears responsibility for what happens within its territory, in light of its not confiscating Hezbollah's heavy weapons and rockets," he said.

Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border.

Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five locations in south Lebanon that it deems strategic.

The truce was based on a UN Security Council resolution that says Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only people to bear arms in south Lebanon, and calls for the disarmament of all non-state groups.

Lebanon's army has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure and authorities have pledged a state monopoly on bearing arms.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in a statement condemned the strikes and said Israel continued "to disregard regional and international resolutions".

He urged "effective action from the international community".

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in a statement called the strikes "a blatant violation of national sovereignty and the cessation of hostilities arrangements" and a threat to stability.

In a letter to the United Nations requesting a one-year renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon which expires in August, the foreign ministry demanded "Israel's withdrawal from all Lebanese territory it occupies and a stop to its ongoing violations".

Earlier this month, Israel warned it would keep striking Lebanon until Hezbollah has been disarmed.