Israeli strike kills 3 in Lebanon: ministry, Israeli army
An Israeli strike on Lebanon killed three people Tuesday, the health ministry said, with Israel saying they were Hezbollah members, as tensions intensified after Israel expanded war aims to include its northern border.
Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on Israel triggered the war in Gaza.
The health ministry said an "Israeli enemy strike" on the border village of Blida killed "three people and wounded two", without specifying if they were fighters or civilians.
Israel's military said its air force "eliminated three terrorists" from Hezbollah who were at a "terrorist infrastructure site" in the Blida area.
Hezbollah did not immediately announce any fighters had been killed, but claimed a series of attacks on Israeli troops and positions near the border on Tuesday.
Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported several Israeli attacks in the south of the country.
The latest deaths came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the political-security cabinet had "updated the goals of the war" to include "the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes".
Almost a year of cross-border violence has displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.
On Monday, israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said "military action" was the "only way left to ensure the return of Israel's northern communities".
The violence has killed some 627 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including at least 141 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians.
Hezbollah has repeatedly said that only a ceasefire in Gaza will put an end to its attacks, and diplomatic activity in recent months has sought to avert all-out war.
