Two Hezbollah Fighters, One Civilian Killed in Israeli Strikes

Three civilians also reported wounded in flurry of South Lebanon attacks

Israel carried out airstrikes against southern Lebanon on Thursday, hitting the village of Khaim and nearby Kfar Kila in a flurry of deadly attacks.

Two Hezbollah fighters were reported slain in the attacks on Kfar Kila. One civilian was also killed and three wounded, although the exact circumstances of these casualties are unclear.

Israel reported further attacks against the town of Blida later in the day. IDF said they hit a Hezbollah cell in the town after identifying it with a surveillance drone. As of now there is no word on casualties.

The attacks come a day after Hezbollah struck an Israeli army base in northern Israel, wounding at least 18 Israeli soldiers. Thirteen of the wounded were army reservists called up for the escalating violence.

Hezbollah continued firing against Israeli targets today, including sites in the Shebaa Farms, a contested area between Israel and Lebanon which is presently under Israeli control.

Israel reported some 40 rockets were fired into its territory by Hezbollah early in the day. At least some, Israel claimed, were intercepted. All this is roughly in line with the near daily strikes by Hezbollah, often in retaliation for Israeli strikes, which are themselves retaliatory.

The tit-for-tat attacks have been ongoing for months, but have been escalating in recent weeks, with both sides inflicting casualties on an almost daily basis.

The international community has urged Israel to show restraint in the continuing escalation and has been trying to broker a deal to prevent an outright ground war in Lebanon. So far, no deal has been reached.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.