Israeli strike kills 4 civilians in southern Lebanon, state media says
BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike Sunday in the town of Mays al Jabal in south Lebanon killed four civilians and wounded several others, Lebanese state media and the town’s municipality reported.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that the strike took place “while a number of the town’s residents were inspecting their homes and shops and the damage they sustained” in previous strikes. Those attacks came over seven months of near-daily clashes between the Hezbollah militant group and Israeli forces against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hezbollah ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said its jet targeted military infrastructure in the southern Lebanese town belonging to Hezbollah, which has clashed with Israeli troops since Oct. 8.
Hezbollah on Sunday said it conducted at least 10 attacks targeting Israeli military positions and surveillance gear near the tense Lebanon-Israel border, while the Israeli military said it identified some 40 missiles that crossed into Israeli territory but did not cause any casualties.
Hezbollah and Israel fought a monthlong war in 2006 that ended in a tense stalemate. Israel considers the Iran-backed Shiite militant group its most serious immediate threat, estimating that Hezbollah has around 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.
Western diplomats have made a series of so-far unsuccessful attempts to broker a de-escalation in the border region. Hezbollah has maintained that it would stop launching rockets towards northern Israel when there a cease-fire to end the monthslong war in Gaza. Israel has warned that it could launch a war against Hezbollah across its northern border should the fighting continue.
The Israeli military also reported it targeted what it said was Hezbollah military infrastructure in other parts of southern Lebanon.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 350 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters with Hezbollah and allied groups but also including more than 50 civilians. In Israel, strikes from Lebanon have killed at least 10 civilians and 12 soldiers.