Five people dead in Lebanon and Syria in Israeli airstrikes

At least five people, including a child, were killed in southern Lebanon and Syria following Israeli airstrikes on Thursday, as clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces continued along the border, local officials and a monitoring group reported.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Health confirmed three fatalities and three injuries in a bombing in Kfar Zouz, near Nabatiyeh, about 10 kilometres from the border. The state news agency ANI said the strike hit two motorcycles and a passing car on a village road.

A source close to Hezbollah reported one of their fighters was among the dead.

In Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that two Hezbollah-affiliated individuals were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

The Israeli military, in an unusual statement, confirmed targeting a Hezbollah member in Quneitra and an Iran-linked fighter allegedly planning attacks against Israel.

Daily clashes have occurred in southern Lebanon and northern Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war on October 7, 2023, between Israel and Hamas, an ally of Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Hezbollah announced drone attacks on military installations in northern Israel, while the Israeli military reported intercepting about 15 projectiles or drones without casualties.

Since October, the conflict has resulted in 622 deaths in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters, and 142 civilian casualties, according to AFP figures. Israel reports 24 soldier and 26 civilian fatalities.

These latest strikes follow Israeli-attributed airstrikes in central Syria earlier this week, which reportedly killed between 18 and 27 people, targeting what the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described as “sensitive” military sites in Masyaf.