3 said killed in IDF strikes in Lebanon after Hezbollah drone attack on troops
23 people wounded; IDF says strikes were on Hezbollah members, infrastructure after drone targeted troops in south Lebanon; IDF says UAV was intercepted, no troops injured
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Lebanon reported at least three people killed and 23 wounded late Friday in IDF strikes that the military said targeted Hezbollah after the Iran-backed terror group launched a drone at troops in Israeli-held territory in the country’s south.
The Israeli strikes hit five locations in the southern Tyre and Nabatieh regions and the eastern Beqaa Valley, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported two young men were killed while riding a motorcycle in the Nabatieh-area Ali Taher Ridge, where the IDF on Thursday said it finished clearing out a “strategic” underground Hezbollah facility.
Another Israeli strike on the Tyre-area village of Rmadiyeh killed a third person and wounded 15 others, including two children, three women and six rescuers, according to the health ministry.
A rescue service source told AFP that the strike in the village, which is sheltering people displaced from other southern areas, had hit a house.
The IDF said Saturday morning that its strikes targeted Hezbollah members and infrastructure, including weapons depots intended for attacks on Israel.
The military had said Friday night that it was striking Hezbollah in Lebanon in response to a Hezbollah drone attack that targeted Commando Brigade troops operating in the IDF’s southern Lebanon security zone.
The Hezbollah drone was shot down and no soldiers were hurt, the military said.
It added that the drone launch “constitutes a blatant violation by the Hezbollah terror organization” of the June Lebanon ceasefire deal.
The US-brokered agreement came three months after Hezbollah again dragged Lebanon into the wider regional conflict by firing rockets at Israel in support of Iran.
In June, Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement committing Lebanon to restoring sovereignty over its territory through the “verified disarmament of non-state armed groups,” which would in turn enable a progressive Israeli withdrawal.
The State of Lebanon, along with Israel and the US, signed the agreement, but Hezbollah and its allies are opposed to it.
Israel pulled forces out of three pilot zones into which the Lebanese army entered, but has said it will not carry out any further withdrawals before Hezbollah is disarmed.
The Times of Israel Community.