Hezbollah drones hit Ga’aton; Israel targets truck, orchard near Sidon

On Friday, Israeli airstrikes targeted areas in southern Lebanon, well beyond the border, amid escalating clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.

The strikes hit the southern villages of al-Najjarieh and al-Addousiyeh in the Sidon district, near al-Ghaziyeh, resulting in at least one reported death and several injuries.

According to the National News Agency (NNA), “Israeli strikes targeted Najjariyeh and Addousiyeh,” two neighboring villages approximately 30 kilometers from the Israeli border, just south of the coastal city of Sidon. The NNA mentioned “victims” without providing specifics, and an AFP photographer witnessed ambulances heading to the impacted locations. The strikes targeted a pickup truck in Najjariyeh and an orchard, according to the photographer.

Hezbollah has ramped up its cross-border attacks recently, prompting deeper Israeli strikes into Lebanese territory. On Friday, Hezbollah announced it had launched “attack drones” on Israeli military positions. The group claimed to have carried out an aerial attack with multiple suicide drones on a newly established artillery command center in Ga’aton, resulting in casualties among soldiers. This attack was reportedly in retaliation for an Israeli strike on a car in Qana on Thursday, which killed two Hezbollah members.

Since the Palestinian group’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, Israel and Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, have been exchanging near-daily fire, contributing to the ongoing war in Gaza, now in its eighth month.

On Thursday, Hezbollah launched 13 attacks on northern Israel, targeting military positions and equipment, including with an “attack drone carrying two S5 rockets” that hit a vehicle in Metula. This incident marked Hezbollah’s first successful missile airstrike from within Israeli airspace, wounding three soldiers, one seriously, according to the Israeli military.

Hezbollah has intensified its attacks on Israel in recent weeks, particularly after the Israeli incursion into Rafah in the Gaza Strip, striking deeper into Israeli territory and using more advanced weaponry.

The cross-border conflict has resulted in at least 415 deaths in Lebanon, mostly militants but also including 80 civilians, according to an AFP count. On the Israeli side, 14 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed. The fighting has displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.