An Israeli strike killed a Hezbollah commander, two fighters, and seven civilians in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh, a security source said on Thursday, raising fears of further escalation.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily fire across the border since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7. On Wednesday, Israeli military said in a statement it had killed Hezbollah commander Ali al-Debs, his deputy, and another fighter in Nabatiyeh.
The Israeli military stated Debs, his deputy, and another fighter were killed “in a precise air strike carried out by an IDF (Israeli army) aircraft on a Hezbollah military structure in Nabatiyeh.” Hezbollah announced that three of its fighters including Debs had been killed but did not specify where they had died.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency identified five of the dead civilians in Nabatiyeh as Hussein Barjawi, his two daughters, his sister, and his grandson. His wife and niece were also killed.
Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, which is also backed by Iran, says it has been targeting Israeli military sites in support of the Palestinian Islamist group’s war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Fears have been growing of another full-blown conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday condemned the Israeli strikes and “new massacres,” particularly the civilian deaths in Nabatiyeh.
A spokesman for the United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon on Thursday urged “intensified” diplomatic efforts “to restore stability and safeguard the safety of civilians.” The cross-border violence has killed at least 259 people on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including 40 civilians, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side, 10 soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to the Israeli army.
