Four Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Israeli attack on a car in Bafliyeh, about 15 kilometers from the border with Israel, a Lebanese security source told the France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
The pro-Iranian movement confirmed, in turn, the death of three of its fighters.
In recent days, Hezbollah has intensified attacks against Israel, which has responded with increasingly deeper incursions into Lebanon and with surgically targeted attacks on officials of the Lebanese Shiite movement.
In a statement released in the meantime, Hezbollah announced that it had used “attack drones” (unmanned aircraft) to target a military position in northern Israel.
Hezbollah declared that the action was a response to the murder of its members in Bafliyeh.
The Lebanese Civil Defense confirmed the number of four dead in the Israeli attack and the official national news agency (Ani) reported that “several people died in an Israeli air strike on the road leading to Bafliyeh”.
For its part, the Israeli army stated that northern Israel was the target of fire several times from Lebanon and reported having “intercepted two drones in Lebanese territory”.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, between Israel and Hamas, on October 7, 2023, there have been daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, which claims to support the Palestinian Islamist movement.
On Wednesday, five fighters, three from Palestinian Islamic Jihad and two from Hezbollah, were killed in Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon.
On the same day, the Lebanese Shiite movement claimed responsibility for a dozen attacks in northern Israel, including attacks with explosive drones and guided missiles.
In seven months of cross-border violence, at least 399 people, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also 77 civilians, were killed in Lebanon, according to an AFP count.
On the Israeli side, 14 soldiers and nine civilians were killed, according to the official report.
On the Israeli armed forces’ online portal, which presents the list of recorded military casualties, the army added the name of a soldier who “fell during operational activity in northern Israel”, on May 8, the third soldier killed in northern Israel. country this week.
