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Israeli strikes across southern and eastern Lebanon overnight killed four people and wounded 32 others, including women and children, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Saturday. Israel said the attacks were in response to an attempted Hezbollah strike on its forces.
The ministry said an 18-yesar-old woman was among those killed, with several locations hit Friday, particularly in the Nabatieh region.
The Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah “terrorists and infrastructure,” including weapons storage facilities, after a drone was launched toward Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. It reported no troop injuries.
The strikes came a day after Israel said it had taken control of the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge near Nabatieh.
Hezbollah, which has not claimed attacks on Israeli targets for weeks, condemned the strikes Saturday in its first statement since Israel announced the capture of Ali al-Taher. The group did not mention the ridge or confirm that Israel had taken it.
In Mayfadoun, Ali Suliman, a relative of 18-year-old Maryam Salameh, said her family had been displaced for six months by Israeli bombardment and had returned only the previous day.
“What targets were here? They are all civilians,” he said, adding that Salameh had recently received a school certificate of excellence but now “she will receive a death certificate.”
The strikes also followed the transfer Friday of four people detained by Israel to Lebanon with help from the International Committee of the Red Cross. Another detainee was released a day earlier.
Hezbollah called the release of the five detainees “significant” but said it “cannot serve as a pretext for overlooking the continuation of aggression, occupation and killing.”
The group added that it could not justify “pursuing a course that has proven incapable of protecting Lebanon and its people,” referring to Lebanon’s direct talks with Israel.
Lebanon began direct talks with Israel after Hezbollah attacked Israel in March, drawing the country into the wider Middle East war. Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.
Israeli forces are operating in a self-declared “security zone” extending about 10 kilometers, or 6 miles, inside Lebanon along the border.
Violence has decreased since a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding in June and a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon later that month.
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