BEIRUT: The health ministry of Lebanon on Thursday said that an Israeli strike in the south killed four Syrians, an area where Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily fire since the Gaza war started in October.
“The health ministry announces… four Syrian nationals were martyred” in an “Israeli strike” on the southern village of Shama, it said in a statement.
The ministry said the death toll might increase once DNA tests had been conducted. It added the strike also injured five Lebanese nationals.
Emergency services said that those killed were farmers and part of the same family. Western media reported that the strike damaged two nearby buildings and burnt a vehicle.
Hezbollah has not claimed any new strikes since an Israel air strike killed its top commander Fuad Shukr on Tuesday.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has warned that the group will respond to the killing of Shukr. His death comes after the killing of Hezbollah ally Hamas’s chief Ismail Haniyeh in a strike in Tehran, which Iran and Hamas have blamed on Israel.
The violence since October has killed at least 542 people in Lebanon.
