UPDATE - Casualties reported in Israeli strike on residential building in southern Lebanon

UPDATES WITH MORE INFORMATION; DECK REVISED

By Wassim Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) – Israeli fighter jets struck a residential building in Nabatieh in southern Lebanon on Thursday evening, killing two Hezbollah members and injuring three others, a security source told Anadolu.

According to eyewitnesses, the Israeli airstrike targeted the last two floors of the building in the town of Kfar Rummane, and several people were evacuated from the building by ambulances following the attack.

However, neither the Israeli army nor Hezbollah have confirmed the casualties in the airstrike as of 1715GMT.

"The airstrike targeting the building resulted in the death of two Hezbollah members and the injury of three others," a security source told Anadolu, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the media.

Local authorities in the town urged residents to keep away from the site of the attack.

Against the backdrop of a destructive Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which led Tel Aviv to face charges of “genocide” before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Israeli-Lebanese border has witnessed exchanges of fire since Oct. 8, 2023, between the Israeli army on one side, and Hezbollah and Palestinian factions on the other, resulting in fatalities and injuries on both sides of the border.

Recently, there have been escalating threats from Israeli officials to expand attacks on Lebanese territory unless Hezbollah fighters withdraw from the border areas with northern Israel.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala