BEIRUT: An Israeli airstrike on a car in south Lebanon martyred three children and their grandmother on Sunday, Lebanese authorities said as Hezbollah vowed a ‘firm and strong response’.
A report by the Lebanese security forces said the children were killed when Israel targeted the car they were in as it drove between the villages of Aynata and Aitaroun.
Their grandmother was also killed and their mother was wounded.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called it a heinous crime. Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib told Reuters Lebanon would submit a complaint to the United Nations over the killing of civilians, including children, in the attack.
A Lebanese parliamentarian reacted to the attack saying Israel’s attack targeting children is a dangerous development which would have massive consequences.
In response to the Israeli attack, Hezbollah launched a rocket attack in the northern region of Israel. Hezbollah said that the Israeli town of Kiryat Shimuna was targeted by rockets.
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In a statement, Hezbollah said it would never tolerate attacks on civilians and its response would be “firm and strong”.
“The enemy will pay the price for its crimes against civilians,” Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters.
Asked about earlier reports from security sources in Lebanon that an Israeli strike had killed three people in a car, an Israeli army spokesperson said the army would be releasing a statement later on Sunday about a strike in Lebanon.
Footage broadcast by television station al-Mayadeen showed rescue workers removing one of the casualties from the still-smouldering remains of the car.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire across the frontier since Hamas and Israel went to war on October 7. It has marked the worst violence across the border since Israel and Hezbollah fought a war in 2006.
