Israel strikes Nabatieh building, kills Hezbollah fighter in W. Bekaa

An Israeli drone on Tuesday fired several missiles at a five-story building in the Ksar al-Zaatar neighborhood in the southern city of Nabatieh, wounding nine people according to the Health Ministry.

It was not immediately clear whether there were any Hezbollah members in the building but a Hezbollah drone had struck a tall building Monday in Israel’s Nahariyya, with Israeli army chief Herzi Halevi calling the event a “dangerous incident.”

Another drone meanwhile assassinated a Hezbollah fighter riding a motorbike on the Bab Mareaa-Saghbine road in West Bekaa, with Hezbollah identifying him as Mohammad Qassem al-Shaer and the Israeli army claiming he was a commander in Hezbollah’s elite al-Radwan Force.

Two civilian passersby were meanwhile wounded in the strike.

Israeli warplanes later fired three missiles on an open area between the southern towns of Jwaya, Wadi Jilou and Mahrouna.

In the afternoon, heavy rocket fire from Lebanon targeted Israel's Meron area, in an apparent Hezbollah response to the latest strikes. An Israeli strike meanwhile destroyed a house in the southern town of Rshaf.

Hezbollah for its part announced an artillery attack on an Israeli post in the occupied Kfarshouba Hills.

Israeli fighter jets had overnight attacked Hezbollah “military buildings” in the southern border towns of Aita al-Shaab, Khiam and Naqoura, the Israeli army said.

The cross-border violence has killed some 615 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including 138 civilians. On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians.

The fighting has also displaced tens of thousands of Lebanese and Israeli residents on both sides of the border and Israel has repeatedly vowed to act to return its citizens through war or diplomatic action.