ISRAELI forces continued their attacks on southern Lebanon on Wednesday.

The Israeli attacks come despite talks between Tehran and Washington to bring an end to the illegal and unprovoked attack by the US and Israel on Iran in February.

An Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon on Wednesday killed at least two people despite fighting between Israel and Hezbollah quieting down in recent days.

Wednesday’s deadly Israeli attack targeted a vehicle on the Tallat al-Dabsha road near Kfar Reman in the Nabatieh district, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported. 

Soon after, Israeli forces targeted the town of Yater in the Bint Jbeil area with artillery shells, the NNA added.

The Israeli army claimed, without evidence, that it “struck” two Hezbollah fighters who crossed a “security zone” in the area

The attacks are the latest violation of a renewed ceasefire reached last week following an agreement between the US and Iran aimed at working to end the wider Middle East war.

Lebanese politicians affirmed it is essential that Israeli troops leave Lebanese territory and cease their attacks for the ceasefire to hold. Israel, meanwhile, said it would only leave when Hezbollah is fully disarmed.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the military will not withdraw from Lebanon “even if there is an American demand.”

“200,000 residents will not return,” he told The Times of Israel about the people forcibly displaced from southern Lebanon.

“What happened in the past when there was a civilian population [present] was roadside bombs and attacks against the [Israeli] soldiers, and therefore we will not allow that,” Mr Katz said. “We are not withdrawing.”

US President Donald Trump slammed his allies in the Nato military alliance on Wednesday over their lack of participation in the war with Iran.

During a meeting with Nato chief Mark Rutte in the White House Oval Office, President Trump said: “We didn’t need help on this at all. We demolished them in literally the first week,” though the terms of the emerging peace deal with Iran are widely viewed internationally as a victory for Tehran, not Washington.

“But it would have been nice if they would have said, ‘We’d like to help.’ We didn’t even need it, but it would have been nice if they said that.”

He said: “We’re going to be discussing what took place and we’ll see what happens.”

Mr Rutte claimed that “four to five thousand US planes [were] taking off from bases in Europe in the six weeks this war took place.

“I know there have been isolated cases about which you are really disappointed, but generally speaking, your European allies have been there.”