2 killed in fresh Israeli strike in southern Lebanon

By Wassim Seif El Din

BEIRUT (AA) – Two people were killed in a fresh Israeli airstrike in the town of Arnoun in southern Lebanon on Thursday, the Civil Defense Service said.

The attack was the latest in a massive aerial campaign launched by Israel across Lebanon since Sept. 23, in an escalation in its cross-border warfare with Hezbollah.

The Israeli army said Thursday it launched fresh airstrikes in several areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, including a raid on Hermel city in the country’s east.

Attacks also targeted Tyre, Bint Jbeil, Aabbasiyyeh and Toura in southern Lebanon.

Israel has launched massive airstrikes since Sept. 23 on what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon that have killed more than 1,100 victims and injured over 3,000, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The top leadership of the Lebanese group Hezbollah was killed in the Israeli assaults, including leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The Israeli army confirmed Wednesday that eight soldiers were killed in ground clashes with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,700 people, most of them women and children, following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar