freeapplearcade|3 killed, 4 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanese villages

BEIRUTfreeapplearcade, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Three Hezbollah members, including a local official, were killed and four civilians wounded on Wednesday in Israeli air strikes on Lebanese villages, Lebanese military sources told Xinhuafreeapplearcade.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, said that an Israeli warplane fired four air-to-surface missiles at a house in the center of Yaroun village in southern Lebanon, killing the three Hezbollah members.

Among the killed is a local party official named Hassan Mohammad Saab, said the sources, adding that four civilians were injured due to two airstrikes on the southeastern village of Khiam and have been transported to the hospital.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

Since the start of the confrontations, 540 people have been killed, including 346 Hezbollah members and 100 civilians, according to figures released by Lebanese security and medical authorities.■