BEIRUT: Three Hezbollah fighters were killed Saturday in an Israeli strike on a house in southern Lebanon, a source close to the Iran-backed group told AFP.

“Three Hezbollah fighters were killed, and two others seriously wounded in an Israeli air strike on a house in the area of Al-Jebbayn,” the source, who asked to remain anonymous, said.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported earlier on Saturday that “enemy aircraft carried out a strike targeting a house in Al-Jebbayn, and rescue teams were headed to the area.”

Hezbollah said it had fired on several Israeli targets, including soldiers and spy equipment.

Since Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza, there have been near-daily cross-border exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, a Hamas ally.

The violence has killed at least 375 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but including 70 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

In northern Israel, 10 soldiers and eight civilians have been killed, according to the army.

In recent days, Hezbollah has intensified its attacks against Israeli military positions, with tensions across the Middle East surging.

On April 13, Iran, which supports both Hezbollah and Hamas, launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel in retaliation for a deadly April 1 air strike which levelled its consulate in Damascus.

AFP