2 killed in fresh Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon

By Naim Berjawi

BEIRUT (AA) - Two people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Wednesday evening, the Health Ministry said.

Four other people were seriously injured in the attack that targeted the town of Marjaayoun, the ministry said in a statement.

The Israeli army said early Wednesday that it had struck Hezbollah-linked military positions in the towns of Rab El-Thalathine, Blida, Houla, Naqoura, and Aita ash-Shaab.

It said the attacks came after three rockets were launched from southern Lebanon into Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel.

No information was yet available about injuries or damage.

Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah amid a months-long exchange of cross-border fire, especially with Hezbollah threatening military retaliation after the assassination of its top commander Fouad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on July 30.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of an Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 40,000 people since last October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala