“A local official and state media in Lebanon said an Israeli strike on a southern village on Sunday killed several people from the same family, with Hezbollah announcing rocket fire in retaliation,” AFP report.
Recall that Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group have exchanged regular cross-border fire since Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, attack on southern Israel. That attack has sparked the war in Gaza between the Israeli and the Hamas.
However, seven months into the war, fighting has intensified in recent weeks. AFP reported that with Israel striking deeper into Lebanese territory, the Hezbollah has stepped up its missile and drone attacks on military positions in northern Israel.
According to the Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, the strike in Mais al-Jabal killed “four people from a single family”. The NNA had earlier reported three dead in the raid it said was carried out by Israeli aircraft.
NNA identified the victims as a man, a woman and their children aged 12 and 21. It added that two other people were wounded.
A Lebanese security source, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed the strike killed “four civilians”.
Mais al-Jabal municipality chief Abdelmoneim Shukair had earlier told AFP that three people were killed. Maintaining that the victims were a couple and their son.
However, Hezbollah in a statement said it fired “dozens of Katyusha and Falaq rockets” at Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel. The group stated that it is “in response to the horrific crime that the Israeli enemy committed in Mais al-Jabal.”
“The Lebanese movement has repeatedly declared that only a ceasefire in Gaza will put an end to its attacks on Israel. Hezbollah has consistently said it is in support of Gazans and its ally Hamas.
Recall that both the United States and France have made diplomatic efforts to calm tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
“In Lebanon, at least 390 people have been killed in nearly seven months of cross-border violence. These are mostly militants but also more than 70 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
“Israel says 11 soldiers and nine civilians have been killed on its side of the border.
Also tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides as a result of the conflict.
source: AFP
