Lebanon says two dead in Israeli strike as Hezbollah claims attacks

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike killed two people in south Lebanon on Monday, while Hezbollah claimed attacks on troops and military positions in northern Israel, including with drones.

An "Israeli enemy strike" on the border village of Hula killed two people, Lebanon's health ministry said, without specifying if they were fighters or civilians.

Lebanon's official National News Agency reported Israeli shelling and raids on several southern areas, saying "enemy drone strikes" killed two people in Hula.

Hezbollah said Monday it launched a "simultaneous air attack" with "explosive-laden drones" on two Israeli military positions – a barracks near the border and a base near the coastal town of Acre, around 15 kilometres (10 miles) from the frontier.

It said it came "in response" to an Israeli "attack and assassination" in south Lebanon's Tyre area.

The Israeli military had said Saturday its aircraft "eliminated" a Hezbollah operative in the Tyre area, describing him as a "commander" in the group's elite Radwan force.

Overnight, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted a group of Israeli soldiers "infiltrating" near the border and confronted them "with rocket weapons and artillery, forcing them to return".

Also, Monday morning, Hezbollah claimed a rocket and artillery attack on another Israeli barracks in stated retaliation for "Israeli enemy attacks".

The Iran-backed group has exchanged regular cross-border fire with the Israeli army in support of ally Hamas since the 7 October attacks.

Fears of a major escalation skyrocketed after an Israeli strike last month on Beirut's southern suburbs killed Fuad Shukr, one of Hezbollah's top commanders, hours before an attack in Tehran, blamed on Israel, killed Hamas's political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to respond.

The cross-border violence has killed some 584 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but including at least 128 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, according to army figures.