Israel strikes on Lebanon kill Hezbollah fighter, two children

Beirut, Lebanon – – AFP

Israeli air strikes 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.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) 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.

The strikes hit a pickup truck in Najjariyeh and an orchard.

The Israeli army statement accused 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 pro-Palestine resistance group said it had attacked an army position in Metula, a border town in northern Israel, wounding three soldiers.

Hezbollah said Thursday’s attack was carried out with an “attack drone carrying two S5 rockets”, which are normally launched from jets.

Israel’s cross-border attacks have killed at least 418 people in Lebanon.

Israel says 14 soldiers have also been killed on its side of the border.