Israel Strikes On Lebanon Kill Hezbollah Fighter, Two Children: Group, Official Media

Beirut, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2024) Israeli air strikes on Friday hit an area of southern Lebanon far from the border, with Hezbollah announcing one dead fighter and official media saying two Syrian children were killed.

Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, has traded cross-border fire with Israeli forces almost daily since the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, now in its eighth month.

The Iran-backed Lebanese movement has intensified its attacks in recent days, including using new weapons.

Lebanon's state-run National news Agency said "Israeli strikes targeted Najjariyeh and Addousiyeh", two adjacent villages just south of the coastal city of Sidon, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the Israeli border.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its air force "struck terrorist infrastructure" where Hezbollah fighters operated in the Najjariyeh area.

The "infrastructure contained several compounds used by Hezbollah's aerial defence array and posed a threat to Israeli aircraft", it added.

Hezbollah announced a fighter from Najjariyeh had died. The NNA said two Syrian children were killed in the Najjariyeh strike, identifying them as Osama and Hani al-Khaled.

An AFP photographer said the strikes hit a pickup truck in Najjariyeh and an orchard.

The Israeli army statement said that "Hezbollah's aerial defence array deliberately operates from within civilian areas, thus endangering the lives of civilians in southern Lebanon".

Hezbollah announced Friday it had launched "attack drones" on Israeli military positions, a day after the powerful Lebanese group said it had attacked an army position in Metula, a border town in northern Israel, wounding three soldiers.