Four people, including two women, were killed and 20 others were injured after the Israeli military launched strikes on southern Lebanon, its health ministry has said.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military said it was carrying out strikes after Hezbollah launched drones at its soldiers, and urged residents of the town of Arab Salim to evacuate.<\/p>\n
Lebanon’s health ministry said two people were killed in south Lebanon’s Nabatieh al-Fawqa and two women were killed in Arab Salim nearby.<\/p>\n
The 20 wounded were in several locations and included women and three children.<\/p>\n
“Terrorists from the Hezbollah terrorist organisation launched two drones towards IDF soldiers operating in the Security Zone in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement, adding that there were no reports of Israeli soldiers wounded.<\/p>\n
“This constitutes a blatant violation by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation. In response, the IDF is now striking in southern Lebanon,” it added.<\/p>\n
In another message early this morning, the Israeli military warned residents of Arab Salim to leave ahead of imminent attacks.<\/p>\n
“You are situated near a facility belonging to the terrorist organisation Hezbollah, against which the IDF will be operating,” it wrote in Arabic on Telegram.<\/p>\n
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war in March after Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.<\/p>\n
Violence had lessened since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding on the broader conflict in June and a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon later that month.<\/p>\n
Israeli forces are operating inside a self-declared “security zone” around 10km deep inside Lebanon along the border.<\/p>\n
Authorities in Lebanon said that Israeli strikes killed four people in the country’s south and east yesterday.<\/p>\n