Two large-scale Israeli strikes simultaneously targeted the town of Ghaziyeh on Monday, near Saida, the main city in southern Lebanon, reported the National News Agency (ANI, official) and an AFP photographer.
ANI indicated that “Israeli warplanes carried out several strikes in Ghaziyeh”, located around thirty kilometers from the border with Israel.
One of the strikes targeted a car, according to the agency, which adds that ambulances went to the scene, without further details.
An AFP photographer reported that at least two explosions rang out within seconds of each other in Ghaziyeh.
One of the raids targeted a warehouse located near the coastal highway and above which a thick cloud of smoke was escaping.
Videos circulating on social media showed clouds of black smoke hovering over two different locations.
🚨🇱🇧 Disturbing images in South Lebanon.
The Israeli army targeted the town of Ghaziyeh.
pic.twitter.com/bMOJkp6Pgg
— Arthur Sarradin |
آرثر سري الدين (@ArthurSarradin) February 19, 2024
Since the unprecedented attack by Palestinian Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, Lebanese Hezbollah has exchanged deadly fire with the Israeli army on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The Shiite party says it is targeting Israeli military positions in support of the Islamist movement Hamas, after the war launched by Israel against its ally in Gaza.
15 deaths last week
The Israeli army responds with aerial and artillery bombardments which it says target the party's "infrastructure" and the movements of fighters near the border.
Cross-border violence escalated last week, with Israel launching a series of deadly strikes against southern Lebanon on Wednesday, which left at least 15 dead, including ten civilians, according to an AFP count.
Also read: Israel-Hamas war: can Lebanese Hezbollah really enter the conflict?
The strikes were carried out in retaliation for an unclaimed rocket attack from Lebanon on a military base in northern Israel, which killed a female soldier.
In more than four months, at least 269 people, mostly fighters from Hezbollah and other allied groups but also 40 civilians, have been killed in southern Lebanon, according to an AFP count.
On the Israeli side, ten soldiers and six civilians were killed, according to the army.