BERIUT: A Lebanese security source said six Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday, with the group saying it had attacked northern Israel and that Israeli warplanes had flown low to destroy the barricade. all over Beirut.
Hezbollah has exchanged fire daily with Israel in support of its ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group attacked Israel on October 7, sparking a conflict in Gaza.
Tensions rose last week as Iran and its allies vowed to avenge the killing, blamed on Israel, of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and after strikes by the Israelis killed the commander of the Hezbollah army, Fuad Shukr, in the southern part of Beirut.
Lebanon's health ministry said an “Israeli enemy attack on a house in the village of Mayfadun,” near the southern city of Nabatiyeh, killed five people, while an Israeli attack again in the area of Adaysseh killing one person.
Those killed in both locations were “Hezbollah fighters,” a security source told AFP, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
Hezbollah announced that five fighters were killed, without specifying where they were killed.
The Israeli army said it “struck a Hezbollah military structure” in the Nabatiyeh area that was used “to carry out terrorist attacks”.
Hezbollah announced several attacks on Israeli positions on Tuesday, including one with an “explosive drone” targeting a camp north of the coastal city of Acre.
The Israeli military said that “several enemy UAVs (drones) are known to have crossed from Lebanon,” adding that “several civilians were injured in the south of Nahariya,” near Acre.
It later said that the initial investigation revealed that one of its interceptor missiles “missed its target and hit the ground, injuring several civilians”, adding that “the incident is under investigation. “
Israel's emergency department Magen David Adom said rescuers were treating “a 30-year-old man in critical condition and a 30-year-old woman in mild to moderate condition with injuries.” noodles.”
Hezbollah said the drone strike was in response to an airstrike in the southern town of Ebba on Monday that, according to the Israeli military, targeted a top Radwan Force commander in the group.
Low-flying Israeli warplanes cut through a blockade of Beirut on Tuesday ahead of a speech by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanon's national news agency reported, security sources and AFP journalists said. .
Nasrallah gave a televised address a week after the killing of Shukr, whom Israel described as Nasrallah's “senior military commander” and “right-hand man.”
Cross-border violence since October has killed at least 556 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but including at least 116 civilians, according to AFP.
On the Israeli side, including in the Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 25 civilians were killed, according to military figures.
Diplomatic efforts have gone beyond seeking to prevent regional conflagration and full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which last went to war in the summer of 2006.
