UPDATE - 6 killed in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon

UPDATES WITH HEADLINE, LEDE, MORE DETAILS, CASUALTIES, STRIKES

By Mohamed Majed

BEIRUT (AA) - At least six people were killed on Friday in Israeli airstrikes targeting areas in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency said an Israeli airstrike targeted a building located on the main road of Kfar Tebnit in the Nabatieh district, killing two people.

The building, which housed residential apartments and commercial shops, was completely destroyed.

Later, the agency reported a separate incident where four people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the town of Ghandouriyeh in Bint Jbeil, also in the Nabatieh district.

It added that six Syrian nationals were injured by Israeli artillery fire that targeted areas around the town of Ras El Ain and the al-Qlaileh Plain in Tyre, southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese agency also reported that intermittent Israeli artillery shelling targeted the town of Kounine in Nabatieh’s Bint Jbeil district.

Israeli warplanes also struck the town of Khirbet Selm, also in Bint Jbeil.

In the capital Beirut, the agency reported heavy Israeli drone activity at low altitudes over the city and its southern suburbs since Friday morning.

A massive Israeli air campaign in Lebanon has been ongoing since late September against what it claims are Hezbollah targets, an escalation in year-long cross-border warfare since the start of the Gaza war.

More than 3,100 people have been killed and over 13,800 injured in Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel on Oct. 1 launched a ground assault into southern Lebanon, heightening fears of a larger regional war.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi