(Beirut) Five fighters, three from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and two from Hezbollah, were killed Wednesday in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, a security source told AFP.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas on October 7, daily exchanges of fire have pitted the Israeli army against the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, which claims to support the Palestinian Islamist movement.
“Three people were killed in the Israeli bombing of a house in the town of Khiam,” the source told AFP, suggesting that the victims were “Palestinian fighters”.
For their part, the “Al-Quds Brigades”, the military branch of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whose fighters are present in Lebanon, announced in a press release Wednesday evening that three of their members were killed “on the border with Palestine occupied in southern Lebanon.
The security source added that “two Hezbollah fighters” were killed in another raid targeting the border town of Odeissé.
In the evening, Hezbollah confirmed that two of its fighters were killed by Israel, including one from the border town of Kfar Kila.
The Lebanese National News Agency (Ani) previously reported that “Israeli warplanes targeted the towns of Khiam and Kafr Kila.”
PHOTO RABIH DAHER, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Strike on Kafr Kila
Images from an AFP photographer showed thick clouds of smoke over the area following the raid in Khiam.
The agency also reported Israeli bombings which targeted numerous localities in southern Lebanon, including Odeissé.
PHOTO RABIH DAHER, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Strikes in Odeissé
In a statement Wednesday evening, the Israeli army indicated that its fighter jets had “struck throughout the day military structures in which Hezbollah terrorists were operating and other military structures” of the party, particularly in the regions of Khiam and Odeissé.
For its part, Hezbollah claimed to have carried out at least 11 attacks against Israeli army buildings, gatherings of soldiers and military sites in northern Israel, using explosive drones and guided missiles in particular. .
The pro-Iran movement generally targets Israeli military positions close to the border. Israel responds with raids that target deeper and deeper into Lebanese territory, and carries out targeted strikes against Hezbollah officials.
In seven months of cross-border violence, at least 395 people, including 257 Hezbollah fighters, but also 77 civilians, have been killed in Lebanon, according to an AFP count. Among these deaths also include 19 Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters.
On the Israeli side, 13 soldiers and nine civilians were killed, according to an official report.