Beirut, Nov 22 (IANS): Nine people were killed in four Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon, as confrontations on the Lebanon-Israel borders intensified for over six weeks, Lebanese military and medical sources said.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday that four people were killed in Chaaitiyeh village in southwestern Lebanon after their four-wheeler vehicle was attacked by an air-to-surface missile launched by an Israeli drone.
According to Elnashra news website, the four victims were identified as three Hamas members and the deputy commander of the Al-Qassam Brigades in Lebanon, Xinhua news agency reported.
The same sources also confirmed that a Hezbollah member was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Hezbollah centre in the village of Khiam in southeastern Lebanon, and bulldozers were used to remove the rubble in search of more missing members of the Shia military group.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, local media reported that Israeli drones attacked Lebanon's southern village of Tayr Harfa, killing local TV channel Al-Mayadeen's journalist Farah Omar and photographer Rabih al-Maamari and a civilian named Hussein Akil, while the attack on the village of Kafr Kila killed an 80-year-old woman.
The Lebanon-Israel border witnessed increased tension for morfe than six weeks after Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Shebaa Farms on October 8 in support of the Hamas attacks on Israel on Monday, prompting the Israeli forces to respond by firing heavy artillery toward several areas in southeastern Lebanon.