UPDATE - Israeli fighter jets shell towns in southern Lebanon, resulting in casualties

UPDATES WITH HEZBOLLAH DRONE ATTACK

By Wasim Saifeddin

BEIRUT (AA) - Israeli fighter jets on Friday shelled towns in southern Lebanon, resulting in casualties, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

According to the news agency, Israeli warplanes bombed the towns of Najjarieh and Aaddousiyyeh in Deir El Zahrani in the Sidon district.

The ambulances rushed to both towns, the media outlet reported, without providing information on the number of casualties and destruction caused by Israeli warplanes.

Earlier Friday, the Lebanese Hezbollah group said in a statement that it had carried out an aerial attack using several drones on the newly established headquarters of the 411th Artillery Battalion in Ga’aton kibbutz.

The group added that the drones targeted the tents where the officers and soldiers of the Israeli battalion were stationed and sleeping, hitting their targets accurately and causing several casualties among them.

The Israeli army had not commented immediately on Hezbollah's report as of 0925GMT.

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 35,300 people since last October following a Hamas attack.

* Writing by Rania Abu Shamala