BEIRUT: A Lebanese couple and their son were killed Tuesday in an Israeli strike on a house in the southern border village of Hula, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and Israel have traded deadly cross-border fire on a near-daily basis since war broke out in October between Israel and Gaza’s rulers Hamas, a Hezbollah ally.
“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.
Israeli strike in south Lebanon kills 3 Hezbollah fighters
Shortly before the strike, Hezbollah said it had targeted the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona in response to Israeli attacks on “civilian homes”, particularly Bint Jbeil.
The Lebanese Shiite movement also said it carried out several attacks on Israeli military positions on the border on Tuesday.
NNA had reported on Monday evening that Israeli air raids targeted Bint Jbeil, but no casualties were reported.
Also on Monday, a missile fired from Lebanon killed a foreign worker in Israel, according to the army, and three Hezbollah-affiliated paramedics were killed in an Israeli raid on southern Lebanon, according to Hezbollah.
It came as US envoy Amos Hochstein said a diplomatic solution was key to ending nearly five months of intensifying 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 has said there will be no let-up in Israeli action against Hezbollah even if a Gaza ceasefire is secured.
The fighting has killed at least 302 people in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including at least 51 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
In Israel, at least 10 soldiers and seven civilians have been killed.
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