Beirut, Dec 14: Three Hezbollah militants were killed and another one injured in Israeli airstrikes on border areas in southern Lebanon, a military source said. The source said that while one militant was killed in an airstrike targeting a house in the southeastern village of Kafr Kila, two others died and the fourth injured in an air raid targeting a residence in the southern town of Yater, reports Xinhua news agency. The military source noted that three batches of missiles were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel and were intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome.
Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Hezbollah announced that its militants attacked two Israeli sites in southwestern Lebanon. The escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border began when Hezbollah fired rockets on October 8 in support of Hamas’s surprise attack against Israel the previous day.
In response, the Israeli forces fired heavy artillery on southeastern Lebanon. The clashes between Hezbollah and Israel have killed 150 people.
Israeli attacks in Syria kill 36 since October
At least 36 people have been killed in heightened Israel attacks on Syrian military sites affiliated with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group since the beginning of the Gaza war on October 7, a war monitor said in a report. The victims comprise 14 Syrian soldiers, 17 Hezbollah militants, two Iranian revolutionary guards, two civilians, and a pro-government fighter, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
During the period, Israel attacked Syria 33 times, destroying 48 targets including weapon depots and vehicles, according to the Observatory. The Aleppo International Airport witnessed four bombings that left it unusable, and Damascus International Airport experienced two strikes that caused its operations to be temporarily suspended.
The intense attacks since early October have brought the total number of Israeli strikes on Syria since the beginning of 2023 to 66 times, including 45 aerial strikes and 21 ground assaults, resulting in about 130 targets being hit and destroyed, according to the Observatory.
In tandem with the escalation in the Israeli strikes, pro-Iran militias intensified their attacks on the US military bases in eastern Syria, said the Observatory, adding that these attacks were in retaliation for Washington’s support to Israel in its offensive in Gaza.
In reaction to the pro-Iranian militias’ increasing attacks, US military bases in Syria have conducted military exercises and reinforced its troops, it noted (IANS)
