One killed in southern Lebanon by Israeli strike - state media

BEIRUT, Lebanon — One person was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon late Monday, after a wave of intensive air attacks in the region over the weekend, state media reported. 

"A raid by an enemy Israeli drone on a vehicle in the area of Qaqaiyat Al Jisr left one dead," the National News Agency (ANI) said, attributing the toll to the Lebanese health ministry. 

Israel launched air strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing eight people, in response to rocket fire that hit its territory for the first time since a ceasefire took effect on November 27. 

No party has claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, which a military source said was launched from an area north of the Litani River, between the villages of Kfar Tebnit and Arnoun, near the zone covered by the ceasefire agreement.

The agreement stipulates that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers may be deployed south of the Litani River, with Hezbollah required to dismantle its infrastructure and withdraw north of the river.

But the war has severely weakened Hizbollah, which remains a target of Israeli air strikes despite the ceasefire.

Over the weekend Lebanese officials held discussions with Washington and Paris to prevent Israel from bombing Beirut, a source told AFP on Monday on condition of anonymity. 

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that following rocket fire on Metula, a town in northern Israel, "Metula's fate is the same as Beirut's".