5 Hezbollah fighters killed in clashes with Israeli forces on Lebanon's southern border

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the clashes also wounded five civilians, including two paramedics from the Al Risala Association for Health Care and a displaced Syrian woman.

They told Xinhua that the casualties resulted from 19 air strikes and heavy artillery shelling carried out by Israeli forces on dozens of Lebanese towns and villages mainly in the border area.

Kouthariyeh al-Siyad, a village located 40 km away from the border, was among those targeted by Israeli airstrikes. Such strikes deeper inside Lebanon have been rare since the onset of the border conflict nearly three months ago.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said Saturday that its fighters fired 62 missiles to target an Israeli air traffic control facility in the area of Meron, which is considered the only air surveillance base in northern Israel.

The Lebanese militant group noted that its attack is "an initial response" to the alleged Israeli killing of the Hamas deputy chief, Saleh al-Arouri, and other Hamas officials on Tuesday evening in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Hezbollah added that it also targeted several Israeli sites, including Avivim, Al-Bayad, Al-Samaqa, Motella, and Miskav Am.

Also, al-Fajr Forces, the military wing of the Islamic Group, a Lebanese Sunni political party, announced that it had attacked the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona with missiles.

The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing increased tension since Oct. 8, 2023, after Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israel in support of the Hamas attack on southern Israel the previous day, prompting Israel to respond by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

The border fighting has so far killed 207 people on the Lebanese side, including 152 Hezbollah members and 35 civilians, according to Lebanese security sources.