Israeli strike kills six in Lebanon, health ministry says

At least six people were killed and three wounded by an Israeli strike on a residential building in Nabatieh city in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said early on Saturday.

The Israeli military said the airstrike targeted a weapons depot used by Hezbollah militants.

Tensions have soared in the region in recent weeks, after a rocket strike blamed on Hezbollah killed 12 children and teens in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel responded with the killing of a top Hezbollah commander in the suburbs of Beirut.

Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, as has Iran for the killing in Tehran of the political chief of the Palestinian Hamas group, Ismail Haniyeh.

Earlier, Lebanon’s group Hezbollah launched a series of drone and rocket attacks into northern Israel but warned that its much-anticipated retaliation for Israel’s killing of a top commander last week was yet to come.

Hezbollah said it launched a swarm of attack drones at two military sites near Acre in northern Israel, and also attacked an Israeli military vehicle in another location.

The Israeli military said a number of hostile drones were identified crossing from Lebanon and one was intercepted.

Israeli medical officials said seven people were evacuated to hospital, to the south of the coastal city of Nahariya, one in critical condition.

The Israeli military said an initial investigation indicated the injuries were caused by an interceptor that “missed the target and hit the ground, injuring several civilians.” It said the incident was still under review.

Reuters TV footage showed one impact site near a bus stop on a main road outside Nahariya.