2 said killed in Israeli airstrike on vehicle in south Lebanon
Source says 1 of those killed worked for cleaning company under UNIFIL contract; IDF also strikes Hezbollah buildings in south Lebanon towns; terror group fires 5 rockets at Israel
Two people were killed on Monday in an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon, according to the country’s health ministry, after the IDF said it had carried out overnight strikes on a number of Hezbollah buildings.
Hours later, five rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel, setting off sirens in a number of communities.
“The Israeli enemy’s strike targeting a car in Naqura left two dead,” the Lebanese health ministry said, without specifying whether they were combatants.
A Lebanese security source told AFP that the car belonged to “a cleaning company” that was under contract with UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force that patrols along the border.
The two victims were “an employee of this company and his cousin, both from Naqura,” a town along Lebanon’s border with Israel, according to the source. “The cousin, who lives in an African country, arrived in Lebanon two days ago.”
There was no immediate comment on the strike from the IDF. The military said earlier, however, that it had struck a number of buildings used by Hezbollah in five different areas of southern Lebanon overnight.
במהלך הלילה, מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו מבנים צבאיים של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה במרחבים יארון, עייתא א-שעב, חנין, טיר חרפא ובליידא שבדרום לבנון pic.twitter.com/QpSVQxpiov
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 2, 2024
The strikes were carried out in Yaroun, Ayta ash-Shab, Hanine, Tayr Harfa, and Blida, according to the military, which published footage of the strikes.
Meanwhile, a number of air raid sirens rang out in Israeli communities near the border on Monday afternoon, including in Ein Ya’akov near near Ma’alot-Tarshiha, as well as Shomera, closer to the border.
A rocket impact was identified near Ein Ya’akov, though no injuries were reported and there was no immediate word of damage. Hebrew media reports said five rockets were fired at Israel in the volley.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there. More than 8,000 rockets have been fired at Israel from Lebanon since the start of the war.
So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 20 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
Hezbollah has named 432 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria. Another 76 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 132 civilians have also been killed, according to an AFP tally.
