Hezbollah official killed in Israeli airstrike in S. Lebanon

A local leader of Hezbollah was killed and two civilians were injured on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, Lebanese military sources told

Xinhua.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, said an Israeli drone fired two air-to-surface missiles at a civilian car in the Lebanese village of Ain Baal, burning the car in the driveway, killing its driver, and wounding two civilians who passed by.

The sources said that the killed was a local leader of Hezbollah, known as Abou Jaafar Baz, from the town of Shehabiya in southern Lebanon.

According to the sources, Israeli forces also launched a series of airstrikes on other areas of southern Lebanon and fired artillery shells at many towns and villages.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said its fighters attacked the Israeli missile defense system in Beit Hillel, hitting the Iron Dome platforms and killing and wounding their crew members.

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.

The confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have killed 420 people on the Lebanese side, including 267 Hezbollah members and 75 civilians, according to Lebanese security sources.