Israel claims several strikes on villages in southern Lebanon
Israeli fighter jets bombed several villages in southern Lebanon overnight, including Yaroun, Tayr Harfa and Aitaroun, the Israeli military said in a post on X.
The strikes targeted sites belonging to Hezbollah, the post added.
Since October 7, Israel has launched at least 6,142 attacks on Lebanon, about 83 percent of the total of 7,400 attacks launched from either side of the Israel-Lebanon border, by Israel, Hezbollah and others, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.
At least 543 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon, while at least 21 Israelis have been killed by strikes by Hezbollah and others, during that same period.
Israeli attack targets car in Lebanese city
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reports the Israeli army attacked a car in south Lebanon’s largest city, Tyre. It said ambulances rushed two people injured in the attack, which took place in the al-Hawsh area of Tyre, to hospital.
Social media video, verified by Al Jazeera, shows the scene of the attack:
اغار الطيران المسير المعا دي قبل قليل مستهدفا سيارة في منطقة الحوش جنوب شرق مدينة صور وعلى الفور تحركت سيارات الاسعاف باتجاه المكان pic.twitter.com/ATxjQRGD0O
— مصدر مسؤول (@fouadkhreiss) July 3, 2024
Translation: The enemy drones raided a short while ago, targeting a car in al-Hawsh area, southeast of the city of Tyre, and ambulances immediately moved towards the location.
Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli raid in Tyre, sources say
An Al Jazeera correspondent has quoted a security source as saying that a Hezbollah military commander has been killed in the Israeli raid on the Hosh area in Tyre, southern Lebanon.
Reuters and AFP news agencies have also quoted sources saying that a senior commander from Hezbollah had been killed.
“A Hezbollah commander responsible for one of three sectors in south Lebanon was killed” in an “Israeli strike on a car in Tyre”, the source told AFP, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Hezbollah confirms death of commander
On its official Telegram channel, the group says that Commander Muhammad Nimah Nasser, also known as “Hajj Abu Nimah,” had been killed. It said that he was born in 1965 and was from the town of Hadada in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon calls for ending Israeli ‘genocide’ in Gaza
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called for ending Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.
“We are concerned with the ongoing genocide against the Palestinians, namely in Gaza, based on our Arab identity and national and humanitarian considerations,” Mikati said at an event in the capital, Beirut.
The Lebanese premier said the key to peace is resolving the Palestinian cause. “The essence of peace is that the Palestinian people live on its land under a free and independent state,” he said. “It is in Palestine that the history of this region begins.”
