BEIRUT: Two people were killed – one a civilian and the other, according to the Israeli military, the head of Iran-backed Hezbollah's anti-tank missile unit – and seven others were wounded in renewed Israeli hostilities in several southern Lebanese towns on Wednesday.
An Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle in the town of Jouaiyya at noon, and a passing car was hit, injuring those inside.
The Health Ministry's Emergency Operations Center reported that two people were killed, Hezbollah member Hassan Fares Jeshi and a civilian named Mohammed Hassan Shoumar, while four others were wounded.
The Israeli military said: “Hassan Fares is the commander of Hezbollah's anti-tank missile unit.”
Israeli artillery shells and airstrikes continued in border towns known for their loyalty to Hezbollah. These attacks hit the towns of Blida, Tayr Harfa, Khiam, Jebbayn, Chihine, Majdelyoun, Naqoura, Zibqin, Chaqra, Baraachit, Halta, Kounine, Mhaibib and Kfarkela.
The emergency operations center said “phosphorus artillery shells targeted the town of Shebaa, causing one citizen to suffer from suffocation, requiring hospitalization.”
Hezbollah responded by targeting “the Raheb site and the Jal Al-Alam site with artillery shells, and the Malikiyah site with rocket weapons.”
Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier for the second consecutive day over Beirut.
Lebanon's National News Agency reported that Israeli jets did the same in two waves over the cities of Sidon and Jezzine and various parts of the south of the country, with activists on social media sharing images of the jets entering Lebanese airspace.
Residents of Beirut and dozens of towns in the Mount Lebanon region experienced severe panic on Tuesday when Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier at low altitude, causing a loud boom.
Border villages adjacent to the Blue Line in the western and central sectors suffered hours of tension later in the day as the Israeli army fired rockets while Hezbollah carried out nine operations against Israeli military sites.
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on Tuesday that a response to last week's assassination of the group's prominent military leader, Fuad Shukr, was “inevitable.”
Israelis are also anticipating Hezbollah and Iran's response to the assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, just hours after Shukr's death in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “The Israeli military is constantly developing its defensive and offensive capabilities.”
Meanwhile, leaflets were dropped on Wednesday in predominantly Druze regions, particularly in the Choueifat area, with photographs of children who were victims of the Majdal Shams attack in the occupied Golan, which killed 12 people. They bore the words: “We will avenge them, Hezbollah.”
Israel has accused Hezbollah of bombing the soccer field in Majdal Shams, but Hezbollah strongly denies responsibility for the attack, while Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has declared his support for the Iran-backed group.
