BEIRUT: The head of Iran-backed Hezbollah's anti-tank rocket unit — two killed — one civilian and another, seven wounded in renewed Israeli hostilities in several towns in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, according to the Israeli military.
An Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle in the city of Jouiya in the afternoon and hit a passing car, injuring its occupants.
The Health Ministry's Emergency Operations Center reported that two people were killed, Hezbollah member Hassan Fares Jeshi and a civilian named Mohammad Hassan Shoumer, while four others were injured.
The Israeli military said: “Hassan Fares is the commander of Hezbollah's anti-tank rocket unit.”
Israeli artillery shelling and airstrikes hit border towns known for their loyalty to Hezbollah. These raids hit the towns of Blida, Tire Harfa, Khiyam, Jebben, Chihain, Majdelyun, Nakora, Zibkin, Chakra, Barachit, Halta, Kounin, Mhaibib and Kafarkela.
The Emergency Operations Center said that “phosphorus artillery shelling targeted the town of Sheba, causing a civilian to suffocate, requiring hospitalization.”
Hezbollah responded by targeting “the Raheb site and the Jal al-Alam site with artillery shells and the Malikiyyah site with missile weapons.”
Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier in Beirut for the second day in a row.
Lebanon's National News Agency reported that Israeli planes did the same in two waves over the cities of Sidon and Jejin and various parts of the south of the country, with activists on social media sharing footage of the planes violating Lebanese airspace.
Residents of Beirut and dozens of towns in the Mount Lebanon region experienced severe panic on Tuesday as Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier at low altitude and emitted loud noises.
Israeli forces faced tension for several hours a day with shelling in border villages along the Blue Line in the western and central regions, while Hezbollah carried out nine operations against Israeli military sites.
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on Tuesday that the response to the killing of the group's top military leader Fuad Shukra last week was “inevitable”.
The Israelis are also anticipating a response from Hezbollah and Iran to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas, in Tehran, hours after Shukra's death in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said: “The Israeli army is constantly developing its defensive and offensive capabilities.”
Meanwhile, leaflets were dropped on Wednesday in predominantly Druze areas, particularly in the Chouifat area, in the occupied Golan, with pictures of children who were victims of the Majdal Shams attack, which claimed the lives of 12 people. It bore the words: “We will avenge them, Hezbollah.”
Israel has accused Hezbollah of shooting at a soccer field in Majdal Shams, but Hezbollah has strongly denied responsibility for the attack, while Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has declared his support for the Iran-backed group.
