BEIRUT: An Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon killed a Hezbollah man, the group announced on Wednesday, as official media reported two of his relatives were also killed and Hezbollah also launched rockets in retaliation.
The border between Israel and Lebanon has seen escalating exchanges of fire, mostly between the Israeli army, and Hezbollah, since the Hamas-Israel war started on October 7, raising fears of a broader blaze.
“Enemy warplanes conducted attacks, before midnight a home in t Bint Jbeil,” around two kilometres from the border, killing a person, his wife and his brother, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.
Hezbollah Man Among 3 Killed by Israeli Airstrike in Lebanon
The Lebanon’s National News Agency identified the dead as Ali Bazzi, his wife Shourouk Hammoud, and brother Ibrahim and another family member was injured. Hezbollah also announced that Ali Bazzi was one of its men.
A relative said that Ibrahim Bazzi was an Australian national who had flown in for a trip regarding a week earlier. Hassan Fadlallah, a lawmaker said that no crime against civilian people will pass without the “enemy paying the price”.
Hezbollah Wednesday stated it launched a barrage of 30 Katyusha rockets towards northern Israel “in reply to the “enemy’s repeated crimes and its targeting of civilian homes in Bint Jbeil”.
READ ALSO: Gaza Death Toll Surpasses 21,000 as Israel Continues Attacks Despite Calls for Ceasefire
Since the cross-border hostilities started, over 150 people have been killed on the Lebanese side including three journalists. As per media reports, on the Israeli side, around 11 people including nine soldiers have been killed in the cross-border attacks.
The Gaza Health Ministry stated that Israeli troops had killed around 195 Palestinian people and injured 325 in the last 24 hours, bringing the recorded death toll to more than 21,110, with 55,243 injured in Israeli assaults in the coastal Palestinian territory since Oct. 7.
