An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army centre on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said. The Hezbollah militant group meanwhile fired barrages of rockets into northern and central Israel, wounding at least five people.
Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, eHezbollahven as Lebanon’s military has largely kept to the sidelines.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has said previous strikes on Lebanese troops were accidental and that they are not a target of its campaign against Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned it as an assault on US-led cease-fire efforts, calling it a ādirect, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contactsā to end the war.
ā(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,ā a statement from his office read.
The strike occurred in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, where there has been heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah fires rockets after strikes on Beirut
Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.
Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.
Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.
On the Israeli side, about 90 soldier