BEIRUT: A leader from Hamas-aligned Lebanese group Jamaa Islamiya was among two people killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Tuesday, the group and Israel`s military said.

Israel has continued to carry out regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November truce with Hezbollah that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities between the foes including two months of all-out war.

Lebanon`s civil defence said `an Israeli drone targeted a car` near the coastal town of Damour, about 20 kilometres south of Beirut, and rescuers recovered a man`s body. An eyewitness saw the charred wreckage of a car at the scene. The Lebanese army had cordoned off the area and forensic teams were conducting an inspection.

Lebanese Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya in a statement announced the death of Hussein Atwi, calling him `an academic leader and university professor` and saying an Israeli drone strike `targeted his car as he was travelling to his workplace in Beirut`. The Israeli army said the air force had `eliminated` Atwi, calling him `a significant terrorist in the Jamaa Islamiya terrorist organisation`.-AFP