Three dead in drone attacks: Israel expands attacks in southern Lebanon

BEIRUT: Three people, including two civilians, were killed in drone strikes on Sunday as the Israeli army stepped up its attacks on Hezbollah and its ally in southern Lebanon.

The first attack, near a UNIFIL site in Naqoura, killed a Hezbollah member later identified as Mohammed Baydoun.

A second Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle in Aita Al-Shaab, killing a civilian named Rafik Hassan Kassem and seriously wounding another man, Hussein Saleh, who later succumbed to his injuries.

Saleh, a mechanic with no political affiliation, was driving to nearby towns to feed pets that their owners had left behind when they fled the region. Arab News had interviewed him earlier.

People close to Saleh said that “everyone advised him not to visit the border villages anymore because they feared being attacked, but he insisted on fulfilling his humanitarian duty.”

An Israeli drone also attacked Jabal Al-Blat, opposite the Israeli settlement of Zar’it, targeting a broadcast tower of Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station.

As hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel entered their 231st day, the village of Khiam fell victim to heavy Israeli attacks, with military drones striking four targets.

In less than 48 hours, Israeli shelling reached the outskirts of Chihine, Majdal Zoun, Kfarhamam in Wadi Hamoul, Zebqine and Naqoura.

The shelling then reached the villages of Rachaya Al-Foukhar, Hamoul, Zebqine, Labbouneh, Makraba Forest and the eastern outskirts of Khiam.

A fire broke out after several shells hit the outskirts of Rab Al-Thalathine near the village of Al-Taybeh.

Israeli attacks on Aita Al-Shaab in the central sector caused severe damage to property, infrastructure and houses.

Hezbollah also announced that two people were killed in Israeli attacks on Aitaroun late Saturday night.

One of the victims is Bilal Amin Mourad, a former headmaster of the public vocational school in Aitaroun. Caretaker Education Minister Abbas Halabi mourned Mourad’s death on Sunday.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said the military had attacked Hezbollah targets in five regions in southern Lebanon.

He said warplanes had attacked Hezbollah infrastructure and military buildings in Khiam and Aita Al-Shaab, adding that several areas in Khiam, Houla, Markaba and Kfarkila had also been bombed.

Sirens sounded in Israeli settlements near the Lebanese border, including in Shlomi, Betzet, Hanita, Ras Naqoura in the Western Galilee, Avivim in the Upper Galilee, and in Kiryat Shmona and the surrounding area.

Meanwhile, rockets hit an Israeli army base near Shlomi.

The Israeli army radio station announced that “two anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon towards Margaliot in the Galilee Panhandle.”

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that “about ten rockets were fired from Lebanon at the settlement of Zar’it in the Upper Galilee, without causing any casualties.”

Hezbollah’s operations targeted “technical systems at the Israeli Al-Abad site with appropriate weapons, hitting them directly and destroying them completely.”

The militant group also “hit a Merkava tank in the Al-Marj area with a direct-fire missile, destroying it and killing or injuring its members.”

The attack then targeted the Zibdine site in Shebaa Farms and a building for Israeli soldiers in the Al-Manara settlement. It also hit two buildings for Israeli soldiers in the Metula settlement and two other buildings for Israeli soldiers in the Shtula settlement.

MP Mohammed Raad, head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary group, responded on Sunday to Israeli threats to launch an open war on Lebanon, saying: “We know your situation well, and we know who you are, and we are waiting for you.”

Responding to those who criticize the attacks in southern Lebanon in favor of the Gaza Strip, Raad said: “When criminals take their crimes too far, they spare no one. Therefore, we should prevent the enemy from choosing another target so that we are not the other victims.”

Referring to the kamikaze drones used to attack Israeli targets, Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, a member of Hezbollah’s Central Council, promised further operations that would “surprise and humiliate the enemy.”

He said: “For the first time in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Lebanese aircraft are attacking Israeli sites in occupied Palestine.”