2 killed, 2 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon

Beirut, Aug 22 (IANS) Two Hezbollah members were killed and two civilians injured on Thursday in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanese sites, Lebanese military sources told the media.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, said one of the airstrikes targeted a house in the village of Aita al-Shaab, killing two Hezbollah members.

They added that the casualties had been transported to Bint Jbeil Governmental Hospital, Xinhua news agency reported.

In a separate attack, "an Israeli warplane fired two air-to-ground missiles at the town of Mhaibib, east of southern Lebanon, wounding two civilians," said the sources.

Israeli warplanes and drones carried out 12 airstrikes on 10 Lebanese border towns and villages during the dawn and morning hours, destroying about 20 homes and damaging more than 60 others, they added.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters launched an air attack with a squadron of suicide drones on the positions of Israeli soldiers in the Kiryat Shmona settlement, adding the drones "hit their targets accurately".

During the past 24 hours, the Lebanese army monitored the launch of about eight drones and about 150 surface-to-surface missiles from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel.

Israeli Iron Dome missiles intercepted some of them in the airspace of the border area in southern Lebanon, and Israeli warplanes also participated in intercepting these drones, according to the army.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on October 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.