Eight Dead, Including Child, in Israeli Strikes on South

Eight people, including a child and six Hezbollah fighters, were killed on Friday due to Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon.

A drone strike in the southern village of Aita al-Jabal, located in the Nabatiyeh district, claimed the lives of a seven-year-old child and a Hezbollah fighter. This attack occurred just hours after another strike in Tayrharfa that killed three Hezbollah members.

Israeli drones and warplanes also targeted several locations near Tyre, including the towns of Kfarkela, al-Khiam, Mays al-Jabal, and a motorbike in Aitaroun. In the strikes, two Hezbollah fighters were killed in Mays al-Jabal and Maarakeh, near Tyre. In Aitaroun, one person was killed and another wounded.

Hezbollah issued a statement confirming the deaths of six of its members: two from Tayrharfa, one from Aita al-Jabal, and one from Mays al-Jabal, describing their deaths as being “on the road to Jerusalem.” In retaliation for Israeli attacks on villages and homes in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah said it targeted surveillance equipment at the Meron air base and a command center in Ein Zeitim, located in northern Israel, with rocket salvos.

Hezbollah also struck several Israeli positions, including Metula, the Ramim barracks, the Malkia post, Tallat al-Khazzan, two positions in the occupied Kfarshouba Hills, the Hadb Yaroun post, al-Abbad post, and artillery sites in Khirbet Maer.

The Israeli military reported that its aircraft had “eliminated” members of a “terrorist cell planning to fire projectiles from the area of Tayrharfa” and a “significant terrorist in Hezbollah’s Rocket and Missile Unit in southern Lebanon,” identifying the latter as Mohammad Mahmoud Najem in Aita al-Jabal.

In addition, the Israeli army carried out raids overnight in the southern border town of Mays al-Jabal, shelled the outskirts of al-Naqoura and al-Labbouneh, and opened fire with heavy machine guns at Aita al-Shaab. The army also deployed flare bombs overnight into Friday over Lebanese villages along the border.