Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill civilian: State media

Israeli strikes on a south Lebanon village killed one civilian and injured two others on Wednesday, Lebanon’s state media said.

After the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel on October 7, the Lebanese-Israeli border has seen near-daily exchanges of fire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

“Two civilians were wounded and a third killed in an enemy drone strike on a house in Khiam” about six kilometers (around four miles) from the border, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.

An AFP photographer in the area reported a series of strikes on Khiam, with one of his pictures showing smoke billowing from four positions in the village at once.

Since Wednesday morning, Israel has struck several border villages and a water pumping station in the Wazzani plain at the border.

In past weeks, several foreign government officials visited Beirut amid concerns the Gaza war could spark a wider conflict involving Iranian allies around the Middle East.

On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne warned officials in Beirut that Israel is threatening to wage war on its northern neighbor to return citizens displaced by cross-border fire, Lebanon’s foreign minister said.

The previous day Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Sejourne in Jerusalem that “time is running out” to reach a diplomatic solution in south Lebanon.

Israel has repeatedly bombarded Lebanese border villages, killing 227 people, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also 27 civilians.

On the Israeli side, 15 people have been killed in the northern border area including nine soldiers and six civilians, according to the Israeli army.