Tel Aviv [Israel], August 15 : At least seven people were killed and three others injured in an Israeli air strike on a house near Ansar in southern Lebanon on Saturday, as Israel intensified overnight strikes on areas it said were linked to Hezbollah infrastructure.
According to Al Jazeera, citing the Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA), the strike hit a house on the outskirts of Ansar in the Nabatieh district earlier today, destroying the building. The agency reported that Israeli air strikes also intensified around the Ali al-Taher Ridge near Nabatieh al-Fawqa.
The Israeli military said the strikes were carried out in response to an action by Hezbollah against Israeli troops operating in the Ali al-Taher Ridge area, which the IDF described as part of a "Security Zone."
"In response to an action by the Hezbollah terrorist organization against IDF soldiers in the Ali al-Taher Ridge, which is located in the Security Zone where IDF soldiers are operating, the IDF struck overnight (Saturday) Hezbollah terror infrastructure in the areas of Nabatieh and Ansar in southern Lebanon," the IDF said in a statement on Telegram.
The Israeli military said it would continue operations to remove what it described as threats posed by Hezbollah to Israeli civilians and IDF troops.
Nabatieh and Ansar are located around 15 kilometres apart in southern Lebanon.
The latest strikes come amid heightened tensions along the Israel-Lebanon front, particularly on the southern side of Lebanon, with the IDF saying its operations are aimed at targeting Hezbollah's military infrastructure and preventing attacks on Israeli forces.
Earlier on Friday, the IDF said that it had killed a Hamas company commander in southern Gaza.
According to the Israeli military, Hudhaifa Khaled Suleiman Qawari, a company commander in Hamas' Khan Yunis Brigade, was killed in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.
The IDF alleged that Qawari had been involved in training Hamas fighters, transferring weapons across southern Gaza and efforts to rehabilitate and rebuild the group's military capabilities.
The military further said that Qawari had recently advanced attacks against Israeli troops and civilians and was targeted to remove what it described as an immediate threat.
The IDF said precautions were taken before the strike to reduce the risk to civilians, including the use of precision-guided munitions and aerial surveillance.
"IDF troops under the Southern Command remain deployed in the area in accordance with the agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat," the military said.