(Beirut) Israeli bombings targeted several regions in southern Lebanon, killing two people, including a Hezbollah fighter, and sparking large fires on Saturday, state media and the Lebanese Islamist movement reported.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip more than eight months ago, Lebanese Hezbollah has regularly exchanged fire with the Israeli army, in support of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
In recent weeks, violence has intensified and exchanges of fire have sparked fires on both sides of the border.
“An Israeli drone carried out an air attack with two guided missiles, targeting a café in Aïtaroun and killing the café’s owner, Ali Khalil Hamad, 37, and the young man Moustafa A. Issa,” the National Security Agency said. information (Ani).
The agency also reported a “heavy airstrike” on the village of Khiam, also in southern Lebanon.
Shortly after, Hezbollah declared that it had launched rockets on an Israeli border town, “in response to the attacks of the Israeli enemy […] notably in Aïtaroun, where two people died as martyrs”.
The Iranian-backed movement then announced that one of its fighters, Radwane A. Issa […] was killed by Israeli fire.
In a statement, the Israeli army said that “one of its planes struck a Hezbollah terrorist in the Aïtaroun region,” adding that its aircraft also “struck terrorist infrastructure in the Khiam region.”
More than eight months of violence have left at least 458 dead in Lebanon, including around 90 civilians and nearly 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to an AFP count. On the Israeli side, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians were killed, according to authorities.
“Israeli artillery shelled the area around Alma al-Shaab with phosphorus, sparking fires in wooded areas, which spread near some homes,” Ani said, adding that the flames had also “reached vast olive plantations.”
Lebanese authorities and several international NGOs accuse Israel of using white phosphorus munitions, a substance that ignites on contact with oxygen and can be used as an incendiary weapon.
“Israel deliberately bombs forested areas with phosphorus in order to cause fires,” Ali Abbas, a rescuer from the Al Risala association, part of the Amal movement, allied to Hezbollah, told AFP.
According to him, rescuers are struggling to put out the flames, with the Lebanese army not sending helicopters, for fear of being targeted by Israel.
Further east, Ani also reported “fires near the sites of the Lebanese army and the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL)”, on the outskirts of the border town of Mays el-Jabal and near the Blue Line, the demarcation line established by the UN between Lebanon and Israel.
A security source told AFP that the fires had started near army positions, without reaching them directly.
In a statement, UNIFIL reported a forest fire near one of its positions in Houla, adding that it had extinguished it with joint efforts by the Lebanese army and the Civil Defense.