Lebanon's army said its personnel were inspecting the drone that had fallen in the Naqura area on Thursday when it exploded, killing an officer and a soldier and wounding two others.

President Joseph Aoun said it was the fourth deadly incident for the army since it began deploying in southern Lebanon following a November ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee wrote on X that the military had on Thursday "attacked an engineering vehicle in the Naqura area in southern Lebanon that was preparing to rebuild Hezbollah military infrastructure in the area".

He added that during the raid, "a technical malfunction occurred" which meant the munition failed to explode and fell to the ground, "with subsequent reports indicating several Lebanese army casualties."

Adraee said an investigation was underway "to determine if the incident was caused by the explosion of Israeli weapons," adding that the military "expresses its regret for the injury of Lebanese army soldiers".

Under the ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's army has been deploying in the country's south and dismantling the Iran-backed group's infrastructure with the support of UN peacekeepers.

Israeli has kept up its strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon despite the truce and has vowed to continue them until the militant group has been disarmed.