BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported on Tuesday that a Lebanese couple and their son were killed in an Israeli attack on their home in the southern border village of Hourah.
Iran-backed Lebanon and Israel’s Hezbollah movement have engaged in near-daily deadly cross-border firefights since war broke out in October between Israel and the rulers of Hamas, Hezbollah’s ally in Gaza.
“The three civilians, Hassan Hussein, his wife, Ruwaida Mustafa, and their 25-year-old son, Ali Hussein, were killed in the enemy raid on a three-storey house in Hula,” NNA said.
“Search operations and the removal of rubble are continuing,” it added.
Shortly after the deadly attack, Hezbollah announced that it had fired “dozens of rockets” at the Israeli kibbutz in Kfar Brom, six kilometers from the nearest border point.
The Iran-backed group also said it targeted “buildings” in the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona.
The group said it acted in response to Israeli attacks on villages and civilian homes in the south, including the attack on Hula’s house.
The Lebanese Shiite movement also announced several attacks on Israeli military positions on the border on Tuesday.
The military said a rocket fired from Lebanon killed an Israeli foreign worker on Monday, and the group said three emergency workers affiliated with Hezbollah were killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.
NNA reported Monday night that an Israeli airstrike targeted the border town of Bint Jbeil, but no casualties were reported.
It came after US special envoy Amos Hochstein said a diplomatic solution was key to ending the nearly five-month escalation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel.
“A diplomatic solution is the only way to end the current hostilities” and achieve “a lasting fair security arrangement between Lebanon and Israel”, he said, adding “a temporary ceasefire is not enough”.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that even if a ceasefire in Gaza is secured, Israel’s actions against Hezbollah will not be reduced.
“We don’t want war, but we are ready to face it,” said Mohammad Ra’ad, the leader of Hezbollah’s parliamentary group, on Tuesday.
“We have not used all the weapons, we have not used all the weapons of open conflict. “We have not deployed all the weapons and the enemy knows it.”
According to a media report, the clashes have left at least 302 dead, mostly Hezbollah fighters, as well as at least 51 civilians.
At least 10 Israeli soldiers and seven civilians were killed in Israel.
