Israeli strikes on south kill two, including child
Israel launched a series of air strikes on southern Lebanon on Wednesday night, killing two people including a child.
The strikes wounded at least three people according to the health ministry.
An Israeli strike on the southern town of Toulin killed one person and wounded another, the health ministry said, adding later that another person of Syrian nationality was killed and two were wounded in a separate strike on Deir Seryan.
The Israeli military said it struck "weapons storage facilities, a missile launcher and Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure which stored engineering tools that allowed for the re-establishment of terrorist infrastructure in the area".
Hezbollah said Israel must halt the attacks before any domestic debate about its weapons and a new defense strategy could begin.
The strikes come ahead of a cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday to continue talks on Hezbollah disarmament.
The government had tasked the army in an earlier session Tuesday with developing a plan to restrict weapons to government forces by year end. The plan is to be presented to the government by the end of August for discussion and approval.
Hezbollah said it would treat the decision "as if it did not exist", accusing the cabinet of committing a "grave sin". It "fully serves Israel's interests and leaves Lebanon exposed to the Israeli enemy without any deterrence", the group said.
The Amal movement, headed by parliament speaker Nabih Berri, accused the government of "rushing to offer more gratuitous concessions" to Israel when it should have sought to end the ongoing attacks.
It called Thursday's cabinet meeting "an opportunity for correction".
Hezbollah opponent the Lebanese Forces, one of the country's two main Christian parties, said the cabinet's decision to disarm the militant group was "a pivotal moment in Lebanon's modern history -- a long-overdue step toward restoring full state authority and sovereignty".
The Free Patriotic Movement, the other major Christian party and a former ally of Hezbollah, said it was in favor of the army receiving the group's weapons "to strengthen Lebanon's defensive power".
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a televised interview that any decision on disarmament "will ultimately rest with Hezbollah itself".
"We support it from afar, but we do not intervene in its decisions," he added, noting that the group had "rebuilt itself" following setbacks during its war with Israel.
