BEIRUT: An Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon on Friday killed a first responder from a rescue team linked to a Hezbollah-allied group and a telecommunications technician performing maintenance work.
Two Israeli military drones launched an attack on a maintenance team working in the southern Lebanese village of Tayr Harfa.
The victims were identified as Youssef Fadi Jalloul, an employee of Power Tech, the company that does maintenance work for MTC Touch, and Ghaleb Al-Hajj, 53, a rescuer with the Risala Islamic Scout Association, a group affiliated with Hezbollah ally Amal Movement.
Several civilians injured in the attack were taken to nearby hospitals.
Israeli attacks continued amid reports that Hezbollah was preparing to declare a public mobilization.
The latest escalation came two days after Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant threatened to step up military activity in the border area in preparation for open war.
Sirens sounded in the settlements of Kiryat Shmona and Margaliot warning of possible drone attacks.
Israeli drones attacked Kfarkila and Blida in Marjayoun, while artillery targeted Rachaya Al-Fakhar in the eastern sector.
The suburbs of Zebqine, Yarin and Jebbayn in the western sector were subjected to heavy shelling. Israeli artillery also targeted Khiam and the Al-Labbouneh–Naqoura area.
Israeli attacks using phosphorus shells resulted in a fire in a wooded area east of the town of Odaisseh.
Incendiary and phosphorus shells also hit Mount Labbouneh and areas near the towns of Naqoura and Alma Al-Shaab.
Hezbollah, however, said it destroyed a recently installed surveillance device at the Israeli military site Misgav Am with a “direct hit”.
The fighter group also targeted the Israeli military base of Al-Malikiyah with an artillery attack at dawn.
Israeli soldiers responded by shelling and destroying a house in the town of Alma Al-Shaab in an attack that also damaged nearby property, crops and houses.
MP Mohammed Raad, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, warned that “what Israel is doing today in Gaza, it will do in any country it considers weak and feels divided and ready to capitulate.”
He described any attempt to settle the conflict as “theatrical” and stressed the importance of cohesive ranks and an understanding of the seriousness of Israel’s objectives.
