Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes killed three people in the country’s south on Monday, Hezbollah announced the deaths of two of its fighters and a rescue group mourned the death of a paramedic.
Tensions have escalated over the past week as Iran and Tehran-backed groups, including Hezbollah, vowed to avenge the killing of Hamas’ political leader in Tehran and Israel’s assassination of the Lebanese group’s military chief in Beirut.
Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israel almost daily in support of its ally Hamas since the Gaza war began following the Palestinian militant group’s attack on Israel on October 7.
The double killings have raised fears of a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah, who last clashed in the summer of 2006.
Lebanon’s health ministry said one person was killed, another injured and a pregnant woman near the scene suffered a miscarriage due to “shock” in an “attack by Israeli forces targeting a motorcycle” in the southern village of Abba.
Earlier, the health ministry said “two people were killed” in an “enemy attack” near a cemetery in the border village of Mais al-Jabal.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said one of the dead in Mais al-Jabal was a paramedic from the Risalah Scouts Association, which is affiliated with the Hezbollah-allied Amal Movement.
Hezbollah announced the deaths of two fighters in separate statements, one of whom was from Mais al-Jabal.
The Israeli military said the air force had “carried out action to attack and eliminate a Hezbollah operative in the Abba area”, who it said was a member of the group’s elite Radwan unit.
It also said that “troops identified a terrorist group operating drones in the Mays al-Jabal area” and that the air force “attacked and eliminated the terrorists”.
The border village lies less than two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the Israeli border and has been heavily bombarded since the cross-border clashes began, forcing most of the residents to leave.
Risala Scouts rescue worker Ali Abbas told AFP that the paramedic had gone with another man on a motorcycle to inspect the site of an earlier attack when he was attacked.
– Medical supplies have arrived –
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several attacks on Israeli military targets on Monday, including one with an explosive-laden drone, which it said was in retaliation for the “assassination” in Mais al-Jabal.
The group said on Monday that it had targeted other military sites in northern Israel with “explosive-laden drones” in response to previous Israeli “attacks and killings” in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said it had “identified several suspicious aerial targets entering northern Israel from Lebanon”, triggering a gunfight that left an officer and a soldier “slightly injured”.
NNA reported Israeli strikes on other areas of southern Lebanon on Monday, while the health ministry said three civilians were taken to hospital after Israeli white phosphorus shelling.
On Monday, Lebanon received 32 tonnes of emergency medical supplies from the World Health Organization for the “treatment of war wounds” to boost preparedness for “escalated Israeli aggression against Lebanon,” a health ministry statement said.
According to the statement, Health Minister Firas Abiad said another consignment of supplies was due to arrive in the coming days.
Lebanon is not prepared for war, with public services, including the health sector, badly hit by an economic crisis that has lasted more than four years, causing many medical professionals to emigrate.
Amid rising tensions, Israeli jets broke the sound barrier twice in the skies over Beirut in the afternoon, sparking concern in the Lebanese capital, according to NNA.
At least 550 people have been killed in Lebanon in cross-border violence since October, mostly fighters but also at least 116 civilians, according to AFP.
On the Israeli side, including the Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 25 civilians have been killed, according to army figures.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
