Israeli army strikes Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon

By Said Amori

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli army said Thursday that it struck Hezbollah-affiliated targets in southern Lebanon, including a truck carrying weapons and military infrastructure.

The army said in a statement that its forces “responded to strikes that were carried out from southern Lebanon towards Israeli territory and targeted the sources of the fire with artillery shells.”

“Israeli air defense fighters intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed Lebanese territory,” it added.

The statement came as reports circulated that Israel carried out a drone strike on a Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon.

Earlier in the day, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that an Israeli drone targeted a car in the city of Nabatieh, without saying whether there were any fatalities.

The agency confirmed that “the Israeli drone fired a guided missile at a black Hyundai Range vehicle, causing it to catch fire.”

Hezbollah announced in separate statements “the targeting of an Israeli barracks and military site near the Lebanese border in support of the Palestinian people and their resistance in Gaza."

Tensions have escalated along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid intermittent exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah since early October, in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006.

The border tensions come amid an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 that has since killed at least 27,840 people and injured 67,317 others.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala