Israeli strike in South Lebanon kills one Hezbollah member

Hezbollah militia loses his life while the intended target, a high-level commander, survives the Israeli attack in Lebanon

In a recent Israeli strike on south Lebanon on Sunday, a Hezbollah fighter lost his life, according to a source close to the group. A security official revealed that the intended target of the attack was a high-level commander who survived the attack.

The ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel has resulted in frequent exchanges of fire along the Lebanese-Israeli border. Israel’s army and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah, a key ally of Hamas, have been actively involved in this border skirmish.

The strike, targeting a car in south Lebanon, resulted in the death of a member of Hezbollah’s protection team, as per a Lebanese security official. However, the senior commander being protected managed to escape unscathed. It’s worth noting that a source close to Hezbollah contradicted this information, denying that a high-level official was the intended target of the strike. Both sources preferred to remain anonymous for security reasons.

The security official disclosed that the Hezbollah commander was in a vehicle with three other individuals, trailing the car that bore the impact of the strike. The same source close to Hezbollah reported that the strike also inflicted injuries on a civilian woman in the vicinity at the time.

State-run Lebanese media previously announced one casualty in the Israeli drone strike on Kafra, a village near the border. The official National News Agency (NNA) conveyed that the strike hit near an army checkpoint, destroying a four-wheel drive vehicle and setting another car ablaze. The NNA further stated that Israel targeted multiple locations in Lebanon’s south, including the destruction of five houses in the border village of Markaba, although no casualties were reported.

The Israeli army confirmed striking Hezbollah positions in Markaba, in addition to other targets in south Lebanon, such as a “Hezbollah operational command center and a military compound.” Hezbollah retaliated by targeting Israeli military positions across the border.

The toll of the Israel-Hamas war since October has escalated tensions across the region. Violence involving Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen has raised concerns about a broader conflagration. Israel’s recurrent bombardment of Lebanese border villages has resulted in over 195 deaths in Lebanon, including at least 144 Hezbollah members, as reported by AFP. On the Israeli side, 15 casualties have been recorded in the northern border area, comprising nine soldiers and six civilians, according to the Israeli army.

Source: AFP