UPDATE – Hezbollah says another fighter killed in clashes with Israeli army

UPDATES WITH DETAILS, ADDS CHANGES

By Anadolu staff

BEIRUT (AA) – Hezbollah announced Wednesday the death of another fighter in the ongoing confrontations with the Israeli army in southern Lebanon.

In a statement, the group said Hussein Ibrahim Makki was killed "on the road to Jerusalem," in reference to the Hezbollah fight in support of the Palestinian resistance facing the Israeli devastating onslaught in Gaza.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported earlier that an Israeli drone struck a car in Tyre city in southern Lebanon, leaving two people killed.

The Israeli media cited an Israeli military statement that claimed Makki was a senior field commander in the Hezbollah group.

The new fatality brought to 297 the number of Hezbollah fighters killed in clashes with Israeli forces since Oct. 8, 2023, according to an Anadolu tally.

Separately, Hezbollah claimed a series of attacks on Israeli military sites near the border with southern Lebanon.

The group said it attacked with Katyusha rockets an air control unit in Meron air base in northern Israel and surveillance equipment and a radar post in the occupied Shebaa Farms in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah fighters also attacked with missiles an Israeli command center and the Biranit barracks in northern Israel.

Israeli media confirmed that some 60 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward the Meron air base in northern Israel.

Minor damage was reported but without casualties.

Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned of a “hot summer” with Hezbollah amid heightened tensions along Israel’s border with Lebanon.

“It could be a hot summer,” Gallant told army troops in northern Israel. “We have very significant, very heavy firepower, and we will make sure to activate it if there is a need and a reason.”

Tensions have risen along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 35,100 people since last October following a Hamas attack.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar