Israel strikes near Hezbollah funeral in Aita al-Shaab
An Israeli strike hit a building opposite a Hezbollah fighter's funeral procession in southern Lebanon on Monday without causing casualties, official media reported.
The frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen regular exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Hamas ally Hezbollah, since the conflict in the Gaza Strip began on October 7.
Israel "targeted people who were participating in the funeral procession" of Hezbollah fighter Hassan Srour in the border town of Aita al-Shaab, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.
The strike hit a building less than 40 meters from the procession, causing damage but no casualties, the agency said, adding that "the Israeli enemy was trying to intimidate hundreds" of mourners, who nonetheless continued with the ceremony.
An AFP correspondent who later arrived at the scene said the strike hit the top of an uninhabited building.
Not long after, artillery shells also fell near the funeral procession for another Hezbollah fighter in Beit Leef, a few kilometers further north, the correspondent said.
Israeli artillery and warplanes also struck the outskirts of several border towns including al-Naqoura, Aitaroun, al-Jebbayn, Dhaira, Yaroun, Mays al-Jabal, Houla, and Blida in south Lebanon.
Hezbollah for its part targeted a group of soldiers in al-Hamra post and fired artillery shells at two Iron Dome launchpads in the northern Israeli settlement of Kabri. The attack was a direct hit, Hezbollah said.
More than 130 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also a Lebanese soldier and 17 civilians, including three journalists, according to an AFP tally.
Hezbollah said Sunday that three of its members had been killed, without specifying where or when.
On the Israeli side, four civilians and seven soldiers have been killed, according to officials.
Iran-backed Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Hamas, while residents of south Lebanon say Israel's retaliatory bombardments have increased in intensity.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was meeting with senior officials in Beirut on Monday, a day after visiting Israel and the occupied West Bank, as part of efforts to de-escalate the situation on the border.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire along the border nearly every day since the war began, and other Iran-backed militant groups have attacked U.S. targets in Syria and Iraq. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have attacked ships in the Red Sea with missiles and drones, portraying it as a blockade of Israel.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is due to visit Lebanon on Monday, after she met her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen in Tel Aviv on Sunday. Cohen said Israel "has no intention to start another front on our northern border" and that France could play a "positive and significant role" in preventing an all-out war.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, warned that Hezbollah was "dragging Lebanon into an unnecessary war that would have devastating consequences."
The sides fought a devastating monthlong war in 2006.
U.S. defense leaders are hoping to prevent the risk of wider regional conflict, both through a sustained high level of U.S. military presence and by urging Israel to scale back operations.
Source: Naharnet, Associated Press
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/302190 |