2 killed, 4 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanese villages

BEIRUT, June 28 (Xinhua) -- A Hezbollah member and a Palestinian national were killed and four civilians were wounded on Friday in two separate airstrikes on Lebanon's southeast villages of Kafr Kila and Khiam, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, said an Israeli warplane fired four air-to-surface missiles at a house on the northern edge of Kafr Kila, killing a Hezbollah member and a Palestinian national and destroying a three-story house.

They added that in another incident, an Israeli warplane fired four air-to-surface missiles in Khiam, wounding four civilians who were taken to the Marjayoun Governmental Hospital for treatment, destroying seven homes and damaging 15 others.

One of the Israeli raids targeted a Hezbollah military center in the Jabal Safi area, which is judicially affiliated with the Jezzine City, deep in southern Lebanon, they said.

The sources noted that Israeli warplanes carried out on Friday six airstrikes on four towns and villages in the eastern and central sectors of the border area, and Israeli heavy artillery fired about 30 shells on 11 border towns and villages in southern Lebanon.

For its part, Hezbollah said they attacked on Friday several Israeli sites with rocket shells and drones, hitting them directly.

During the past few days, the border areas in southern Lebanon witnessed an unprecedented escalation between Hezbollah and the Israeli army after Israel assassinated four Hezbollah cadres, including prominent leader Talib Abdullah, on June 11.

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

Since the start of the confrontations on both sides of the border between Lebanon and Israel, from Oct. 8, 2023, 546 people have been killed, including 351 Hezbollah members and 100 civilians, according to party statements and Lebanese security and medical reports. ■