Israel’s anti-Hezbollah strikes hit Lebanese villages

Israeli forces targeting the Hezbollah
militant group bombarded villages in southern and eastern Lebanon on Saturday
after attacks inside northern Israel, sources on both sides said.

Israel and Hezbollah have staged regular artillery strikes against each other
since the October 7 Hamas attacks set off the latest Gaza war.

A Hezbollah-affiliated medical organisation said 16 children aged between
four and 14 were wounded in one Israeli air strike on the south Lebanon town
of Siddikine.

The Israeli army said in a statement released Saturday that it had staged
more than 40 air strikes over the past 72 hours against Hezbollah “military
targets” in Lebanon.

The Islamic Health Committee said that the injured children from Siddikine
had been taken to different hospitals in the region.

Lebanon’s state-run ANI news agency said seven people were injured in an
Israeli strike on the town, inland from the coastal city of Tyre.

A source close to Hezbollah also reported that two Israeli air strikes on the
militant group’s positions injured two people west of the city of Baalbek, in
a remote area of eastern Lebanon far from the border.

ANI said “intensified” Israeli drone strikes since Friday night had left
dead, injured and damage in several frontier zones. It did not give further
details of the casualties.

The Israeli military said its fighter jets had struck “significant Hezbollah
assets” in south Lebanon in response to rocket fire aimed at northern Israel.

Hezbollah said it had shot down an Israeli Hermes 900 drone and Israel
confirmed it had lost a drone in Lebanese airspace.

Nearly eight months of violence on the Israel-Lebanon border has left almost
450 people dead in Lebanon, mostly fighters but including at least 80
civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, at least 14 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed,
according to the army. (BSS/AFP)