YANOUH, Lebanon — Mourners in southern Lebanon on Tuesday buried a father and his young son killed in an Israeli drone strike that targeted a Hezbollah member.
Hassan Jaber, a police officer, and his child, Ali, were on foot when the strike on Monday hit a passing car in the center of their town, Yanouh, relatives said. Lebanon's health ministry said the boy was 3 years old. Both were killed at the scene along with the car driver, Ahmad Salami, who the Israeli military said in a statement was an artillery official with the Lebanese militant group.
It said it was aware of a ''claim that uninvolved civilians were killed'' and that the case is under review, adding it ''makes every effort to reduce the likelihood of harm'' to civilians.
Salami, also from Yanouh, was buried in the village Tuesday along with the father and son.
''There are always people here, it's a crowded area,'' with coffee shops and corner stores, a Shiite religious gathering hall, the municipality building and a civil defense center, a cousin of the boy's father, also named Hassan Jaber, told The Associated Press.
When the boy and his father were struck, he said, they were going to a bakery making Lebanese breakfast flatbread known as manakish to see how it was made. They were standing only about 5 meters (5.5 yards) from the car when it was struck, the cousin said.
''It is not new for the Israeli enemy to carry out such actions,'' he said. ''There was a car they wanted to hit and they struck it in the middle of this crowded place.''
Jaber said the little boy, Ali, had not yet entered school but ''showed signs of unusual intelligence."
