Israeli drones struck areas deep in Lebanon on Monday, killing one person and wounding another, in retaliation for launches by the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.
Israeli drones targeted a car in the town of Kawthariyat al-Rez in Sidon district and a motorcycle in al-Naqoura.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said one person was killed and another injured in the attack in Naqoura.
The Israeli military confirmed the strikes, saying its warplanes struck the area of Tire in southern Lebanon and “eliminated the terrorist Ali Hussein Sabra.”
The military said Sabra was involved in efforts to equip and strengthen Hezbollah’s air defense unit, citing drone launches by the movement.
It added that they also hit Hezbollah’s infrastructure and several military compounds used by Hezbollah’s air defenses in the Qotrani area of southern Lebanon.
A Lebanese security source described the situation in southern Lebanon on Monday as a “real war zone.”
Hezbollah said in a statement in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and “in response to the murder committed by the Israeli enemy this afternoon … the Islamic Resistance (Hezbollah) launched an airstrike with a squadron of attack drones on the new (Israeli) leadership headquarters” in the north of Israel.
The pro-Iran movement claimed direct hits.
Meanwhile, Israel’s heavy shelling caused several fires in fields in the western Bekaa region and southern Lebanon.
The escalation came as acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani arrived in Beirut and held talks with Lebanese officials.
