BEIRUT, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese army said on Tuesday that a soldier was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle a day earlier in southern Lebanon.

"On Dec. 22, First Sergeant Ali Abdallah of the Support Brigade-Anti-Tank Regiment was killed as a result of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a vehicle he was inside on the Quneitra-Maamariyeh-Sidon road," the army said in a statement.

A Lebanese security source told Xinhua that two Hezbollah members were also killed during the airstrike.

In a later statement regarding the incident, the Lebanese army denied claims of any cooperative ties between itself and Hezbollah.

A ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel, brokered by the United States and France, has been in effect since Nov. 27, 2024.

Despite the agreement, the Israeli army occasionally carries out strikes in Lebanon, claiming they are to remove Hezbollah "threats," and has maintained the presence of its forces at five main points in the Lebanese border area. ■