Elderly woman killed in Israeli strike on Maroun al-Ras
Israeli strikes killed a woman in her eighties in a south Lebanon village early Thursday morning, Lebanese state media said, with rescuers confirming the death to AFP.
"Hostile bombing on the town of Maroun al-Ras this morning killed a woman and wounded her husband," Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said.
Israeli artillery shells struck "residential neighborhoods" in the town, hitting the house of the couple in their eighties, the agency added.
Rescuers who transported the pair to hospital confirmed her death to AFP, also blaming Israel for the strike.
Hezbollah for its part attacked Israeli posts in the occupied Shebaa Farms with three attack drones after it also fired rockets and shells on a group of soldiers there. Hezbollah also targeted al-Jerdah and the Israeli posts of Dovev and Avivim in retaliation for Israeli attacks on civilians and the killing of Nohad Mehanna in Maroun al-Ras.
Israeli media said that three soldiers were injured in the Avivim attack.
The frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen regular exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Hezbollah, since the conflict in the Gaza Strip began on October 7.
The Israeli army also bombed the outskirts of Yaroun, Aita al-Shaab, Aitaroun, Rashaya al Fokhar, al-Mari, Ebl al-Saqi, al-Arqoub and Kfarkila.
On Monday, Hezbollah had vowed that any Israeli attacks on civilians "will be reciprocated".
The group said it launched a series of attacks, including "incendiary rockets", on forested areas of northern Israel early Thursday in retaliation for Israeli assaults on Lebanese groves. Israeli warplanes had carried out airstrikes deep inside Lebanon late Wednesday evening, hitting a forested area near the town of Bouslaya, more than 20 kilometers from the border.
Rights groups and Lebanese officials have repeatedly accused Israel of white phosphorus attacks -- an incendiary weapon that can cause serious burns if it hits people.
More than 140 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also a Lebanese soldier and 19 civilians, including three journalists, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, four civilians and seven soldiers have been killed, according to Israeli officials.
The hostilities have raised fears of a regional conflagration.
On Monday, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna met senior officials in Beirut, a day after visiting Israel and the occupied West Bank, as part of efforts to de-escalate border tensions.
The Gaza war began with the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
Israel's retaliatory ground and air offensive has killed at least 20,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children. Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Gaza.
Source: Agence France Presse
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