Lebanon says Israeli strikes on south kill eight

Lebanon said Israeli strikes killed eight people, including a child, in southern districts on Friday, with Hezbollah saying the other seven dead were fighters.

It was one of the highest single-day tolls for the Iran-backed group since it began exchanging cross-border fire with Israel in support of its ally Hamas after the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war.

The health ministry said an "Israeli enemy drone strike" killed two people including a "seven-year-old" in Aita al-Jabal, and that other "Israeli" strikes killed six people in four other places in the south.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said a "hostile drone" targeted a house in Aita al-Jabal with "two guided missiles".

Hezbollah said seven of its fighters had been killed by Israeli fire.

The group claimed 13 attacks on Israeli positions through the day, including several "rocket salvos".

The Israeli military said between 90 and 100 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel, some of which were intercepted.

It said its aircraft "eliminated" members of "a terrorist cell that was planning to fire projectiles from the area of Tayr Harfa".

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that three of the group's fighters were killed in the strike.

The Israeli military said its aircraft also "struck and eliminated" a "significant terrorist in Hezbollah's rocket and missile unit in southern Lebanon" in Aita al-Jabal, identifying him as Mohammad Mahmoud Najem.

Later on Friday, the group mourned Najem as a fighter.

The killing of a top Hezbollah commander in an Israeli air strike on south Beirut late last month prompted promises of retaliation by Hezbollah and raised fears of a full-blown war.

Cross-border violence since the Gaza war started has killed 601 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also including at least 131 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

The Israeli authorities have announced the deaths of at least 23 soldiers and 26 civilians since the escalation began, including in the annexed Golan Heights.