One killed in Naqoura as Hezbollah fires at Israeli jet, retaliates to Bekaa strike
Hezbollah said Tuesday it has fired overnight a surface-to-air missile at an Israeli warplane that "violated Lebanese airspace", forcing it to retreat beyond the border.
Since the border clashes erupted on October 8 following Israel's war on Gaza, Hezbollah has shot down several Israeli drones, including some that they identified as Hermes 450s or Hermes 900s. Last Thursday, Hezbollah used anti-aircraft missiles against Israeli jets for the first time. It used them again on Sunday.
Hezbollah's use of more advanced weaponry, including drones capable of firing missiles, explosive drones and the small type of guided missile known as Almas, or Diamond, that was used to attack a base controlling a surveillance balloon raised alarms within the Israeli military. Israel in response ramped up in past weeks its targeting of Hezbollah fighters and allied militants in cars and on motorbikes in south Lebanon.
Later on Tuesday, Hezbollah attacked a group of soldiers in Netu'a in north Israel, and a command center in the Yarden Barracks in the occupied Golan Heights in response to deadly overnight airstrikes on the Bekaa. The group also attacked a building used by soldiers in Metula, in retaliation to Israeli strikes on Aitaroun and other villages in south Lebanon.
Israeli strikes had targeted late Monday a convoy of tankers entering Lebanon from Syria reportedly killing three members of Hezbollah, after Hezbollah downed an Israeli Hermes drone over Lebanon, the fifth of the type since February.
Hezbollah announced Tuesday the deaths of three of its members "on the road to Jerusalem", without specifying where or when they died.
An Israeli drone meanwhile targeted the southern border town of al-Naqoura, severely injuring a civilian who later died of his injuries.
A drone also targeted Kfarkila while artillery shelled al-Khiam.
More than eight months of violence have killed at least 462 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including around 90 civilians, according to an AFP count.
On the Israeli side of the border, at least 15 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed, according to the army.
