BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said on Friday Israeli strikes killed eight people, including a child, in different parts of the south, with Hezbollah saying five of its fighters were among the dead.

Hezbollah has exchanged regular fire with Israel in support of Hamas since the Oct 7 raid in Israel.

The health ministry said an “Israeli enemy drone strike” killed two people, including a seven-year-old in Aita Al Jabal, and that three other Israeli strikes killed six people in three other locations in the south.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said a “hostile drone” targeted a house in Aita Al Jabal with “two guided missiles”.

The health ministry said Israeli strikes included a raid “on the village of Tayr Harfa that killed three people”, with Hezbollah later mourning three fighters killed by Israeli fire, including a man from that same village.

A source close to the group said the three fighters were killed in the Tayr Harfa strike.

Later on Friday the group mourned two more fighters, identifying one as Najem.

The threat of full-blown war grew after Iran and Hezbollah vowed to avenge the killings last month, blamed on Israel, of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.

Cross-border violence since the outbreak of Gaza conflict has killed 600 people in Lebanon, including 131 civilians.

The Israeli authorities have acknowledged the deaths of 23 soldiers and 26 civilians since the escalation began.

Strikes in Syria

The Syrian defence ministry said Israel carried out several air strikes in the central region on Friday, wounding seven civilians.

“At approximately 7.35 pm (1635 GMT), the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of northern Lebanon, targeting a number of sites in the central region,” the ministry said.

The attack “wounded seven civilians”, it added.

Since the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in the country, mainly targeting the army and its Iran-backed allies.

The raids intensified after Hamas’s October 7 raid in Israel, then eased after an April 1 strike blamed on Israel hit the Iranian consular building in Damascus, killing two generals of the Revolutionary Guard.

Tensions have risen again since the killings of two senior Iran-backed fighters last month, which sparked threats of reprisals from Tehran and its allies, who blamed Israel.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2024