Lebanon reports one dead and several injured in Israeli attacks

Thick smoke billows following an Israeli rocket attack on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Dhaira. Marwan Naamani/dpa

One person died in a series of Israeli air strikes in Lebanon overnight, state media in the Middle Eastern country reported on Saturday.

A number of people were also injured in the attacks on various locations in southern Lebanon, according to the NNA news agency.

One building in the coastal town of Aadloun was destroyed and dozens more were damaged, it said, while two people on a motorcycle were also injured near Majdal Selm on Saturday.

According to the Israeli armed forces, the two were members of the pro-Iranian Shia militia Hezbollah.

The military said it launched attacks during the night on Hezbollah targets around Aadloun, Qana and Hmaileh, among other locations, in response to earlier attacks targeting northern Israel.

The Israeli strikes hit several rocket launch sites previously used by Hezbollah, which is allied to Iran and the Palestinian militant Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, officials said.

In turn, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for attacks on northern Israel on Saturday. In response to the strike on the motorcycle, the militia said it fired attack drones at Israeli military targets near Yiftah in northern Israel.

Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip last October, there have been daily clashes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah and other groups in the border area between Israel and Lebanon.

The mutual shelling has caused many casualties and severe destruction in villages on both sides of the border. Around 150,000 people have been evacuated or left the combat zone.

© Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH