Israel and Hezbollah trade strikes over Lebanon border

Israel and Hezbollah trade strikes over Lebanon border
News Desk

By News Desk


Published: 27/03/2024

Hezbollah has fired a barrage of rockets into northern Israel, killing one person, in response to deadly Israeli strikes on a Lebanese village.

Lebanese sources said seven people were killed in the Israeli attack overnight on Habbariyeh, making it one of the deadliest in recent violence.

Israel said militants were killed, including one involved in attacks on Israel.

The Lebanese group targeted said those killed were "rescuers".

The strikes come as Israel and Hezbollah trade almost daily strikes across the border, which began with the start of the Israel-Gaza war following the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Muslim militant group with close ties to Iran and an ally of Hamas.

Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona and a military base there on Wednesday morning.

Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said a factory worker was pulled from wreckage after one of the strikes hit an industrial park triggering a fire.

He had severe wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, it added.

Hezbollah said the rocket attacks were "in response to the massacre in Habbariyeh".

Lebanese officials said the strikes on the village had hit an emergency and relief centre for Jamaa Islamiya, a Sunni Muslim group with links to Hamas.

The Lebanese Ambulance Association, quoted by the Associated Press, called the strike a "flagrant violation of humanitarian work".

The Israel Defense Forces described the target as a "military compound".

They said: "A significant terrorist operative belonging to the Jamaa Islamiya organisation who advanced attacks against Israeli territory was eliminated along with additional terrorists who were with him."

According to UN figures from before the latest attacks, 316 people have been killed in Lebanon since the conflict began, at least 54 of them civilians.

Up to 20 have lost their lives on the Israeli side, around half of them civilians.

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