IDF strikes in Lebanon kill at least 3 Hezbollah gunmen

At least three members of Hezbollah were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Saturday, as skirmishes on the border continued, Report informs via The Times of Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces said it had carried out strikes on Hezbollah operatives in Ayta ash-Shab and Kfar Kila in the morning hours, after they were spotted entering sites belonging to the terror group.

Later in the day, the IDF said reservists of the Etzioni Brigade spotted several more Hezbollah operatives at one of the group’s sites in Jebbayn before fighter jets struck the building. Hezbollah announced that three of its members were killed in the strike in Jebbayn.

Their deaths brought Hezbollah’s toll amid the war in the Gaza Strip to 285.

Since October 8, Hezbollah has attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a daily basis with rockets, drones, anti-tank missiles and other means, saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war there.

Sirens sounded in northern Israel throughout Saturday, warning of rocket attacks and possible drone infiltrations, some of which were later deemed to be false alarms.

At least one projectile fired from Lebanon hit a home in the largely evacuated town of Metula. There were no reports of injuries.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for at least nine separate attacks Saturday.

The latest significant attack was on Wednesday, when 14 soldiers and four civilians were wounded as an explosive drone fired from Lebanon struck a community center in the northern border town of Arab al-Aramshe.

Israel has threatened to go to war to force Hezbollah away from the border if it does not retreat and continues to threaten northern communities, from where some 70,000 people were evacuated to avoid the fighting.

So far, the skirmishes on the border have resulted in eight civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 10 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 285 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon, but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 54 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 60 civilians have been killed.