2 people killed in Israeli drone strike on car in South Lebanon

An Israeli drone on walk out on a gondola in southern  lebanese republic killed deuce people on Thursday, medical and security sources said.

It is the second consecutive day such an event occurred, after a similar strike on Wednesday killed at least two people despite a ceasefire, Lebanese security and medical sources told Reuters.

Meanwhile, senior Israeli and Lebanese officials denied on Thursday that there had been any Israeli withdrawal from occupied southern Lebanon, after a U.S. Official said Israel had pulled some troops back in a good faith gesture toward Lebanon's government.

Israel and Lebanon have been discussing a U.S.-backed proposal for Israeli forces to hand some of the territory they occupied in their war with Hezbollah to Lebanon's military, in a possible step toward restoring Lebanese control in the south.

The "pilot zone" proposal has been part of the latest round of Israeli-Lebanese talks in Washington mediated by the U.S., which resumed even as they appeared to be eclipsed by Iran's move to make Lebanon central to its own talks with Washington.

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A U.S. State Department official said that "Israel has already taken a concrete step by pulling back from a part of its buffer zone." The so-called buffer zone is a vast area of southern Lebanon that Israeli forces are occupying north of the Israeli border.

The official described the move as "a significant demonstration of good faith toward Lebanon's legitimate government."

"The [Lebanese Armed Forces] should now move in and verifiably clear out terrorist weapons and infrastructure," they said. "This model will be repeated across South Lebanon, enabling the safe return of displaced families, reconstruction of the south, and the restoration of full Lebanese sovereignty."

A senior Israeli defence official denied there had been any kind of pullback or withdrawal by Israeli forces, and said Israel would not be withdrawing from its buffer zone.

A senior Lebanese military official said developments on the ground in recent days "show the opposite of a pullback."

Israel has been enforcing the zone against anyone approaching, including the Lebanese army, the official said. Israel's military said in a statement there had been no change in the location of its soldiers there.

Israel's self-described buffer zone is about 10 kilometres into Lebanon from the Israeli border. Its military has forced the local Lebanese population from their homes and carried out raids on villages, destroying buildings.

Israeli officials say the area is supposed to protect communities in Israel's north from Hezbollah attacks. It says it has found Hezbollah weapons. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that the military would not be withdrawing from the area.

The talks on handing over Lebanese territory to the Lebanese army were for a few areas outside the buffer zone, not within it, the senior Israeli official said.

The U.S. State Department official said the pilot zone process was aimed at ensuring the complete and verifiable destruction of Hezbollah's weapons and infrastructure and the dismantling of non-state armed groups.

A second Lebanese military official said the Washington talks had focused on a mechanism through which the pilot zone plan would be implemented but that disputes had emerged.

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Lebanon's government wants the pilot plan to be implemented within Israel's buffer zone, while Israel wants to start by withdrawing from areas north of that area, the official said.

Israel has insisted on separately negotiating each area it could hand over without setting a timeline, while Lebanon wants to see a roadmap for full Israeli withdrawal, the official added.

Another Israeli military official told Reuters on Wednesday that the military had not received orders to hand over any position to the Lebanese army and that, for now, it would not permit the Lebanese army or civilians to cross into the buffer zone.

"We will not allow the Lebanese army to go south from the security line," the official said.

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