Israeli military: Fire from Lebanon claims one civilian’s life

A military statement said that “terrorists from Lebanese territory launched an anti-tank missile aimed at the Matat area.”

The Magen David Adom rescue service said in a separate statement that a 60-year-old man was brought to one of their units without signs of life and was pronounced dead.

“Additional rocket launches from Lebanon into Israel have also been identified,” the military said, adding that “helicopters, tanks and artillery are hitting the sources.”

The Lebanese movement Hezbollah said in a statement that it targeted the Matat barracks with relevant weapons and confirmed the number of casualties.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military reported that several rockets had been fired from Lebanon. Israel retaliated by ordering fighter jets to strike several Hezbollah targets.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting northern Israel on Thursday to assess the border situation, warned Hezbollah not to seek to expand his country’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“If Hezbollah decides to start a full-scale war, it will turn Beirut and South Lebanon, near here, Gaza and Khan Yunis, into its own hands,” he said, referring to the areas that have been hit hard by the fighting.

Lebanon’s military said a Lebanese soldier was killed Tuesday when Israel shelled a military post near the country’s southern border. This is the first such death of Lebanese soldiers since the war between Hamas and Israel began in October.

The Israeli military expressed its regret for the incident on the social network X, where it wrote that it was trying to eliminate the Hezbollah threat and said that the Lebanese army was not the target of the strike.

Israel shelled the chicken farm where he worked later Tuesday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency and a local official. A Syrian worker was killed in the shelling.

According to the AFP news agency, more than 110 people, mostly Hezbollah fighters, have been killed in Lebanon since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. However, a dozen civilians are among the dead.

On October 9, one Lebanese officer was lightly wounded during Israeli shelling.

Israeli officials said six soldiers and three civilians were killed.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission also said its headquarters in southern Lebanon had been shelled several times since hostilities began.

Hezbollah says it launched attacks against Israel in support of Hamas after the Palestinian Islamist group invaded southern Israel across the Gaza border on October 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people. people, mostly civilians, and about 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage.

In response to the October 7 attacks, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry says 17,177 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip since October 7.