Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily fire across the border since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7.
An Israeli strike has killed Hezbollah commander, Ali al-Debs, two fighters and seven civilians in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh.
Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily fire across the border since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7.
On the bloodiest day since then, the Israeli military in a statement said it killed Hezbollah commander al-Debs, his deputy and another fighter in Nabatiyeh on Wednesday, a Barron’s report credited to AFP said.
A security source in Lebanon said that, along with Debs and two other Hezbollah members, the strike had killed seven civilians from the same family. The source requested anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
The deaths brought to 10 the total number of civilians killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday, the highest such toll since the cross-border hostilities erupted.
Israeli military in a statement on Thursday said Debs, his deputy and another fighter were killed "in a precise air strike carried out by an IDF (Israeli army) aircraft on a Hezbollah military structure in Nabatiyeh".
Hezbollah announced Thursday that three of its fighters including Debs had been killed, without specifying where they had died. It had already said two other members were killed on Wednesday.
The Israeli army had said it lost a soldier in unclaimed rocket fire from Lebanon on Wednesday and that its warplanes carried out strikes on Lebanon.