Lebanon security source says Israel strike hits Hezbollah missile truck

Lebanon security source says Israel strike hits Hezbollah missile truck
by AFP Staff Writers
Beirut, Lebanon (AFP) Aug 28, 2024

A Lebanese security source said Wednesday that an overnight Israeli air strike hit a lorry loaded with Hezbollah missiles, days after a major flare-up between the regional foes.

The Israeli military told AFP it had no comment.

The Lebanese source told AFP on condition of anonymity that "the Israeli air force targeted two Hezbollah lorries" some 10 kilometres (six miles) from Baalbek, a stronghold of the Iran-backed militant group in eastern Lebanon.

"One of the vehicles was hit and a series of explosions were heard in the area," the source said.

Lebanon's health ministry said one person was wounded in the strike late Tuesday.

A source close to Hezbollah confirmed the hit and said "the munitions which were inside the lorry caught fire".

Israel has repeatedly targeted truck convoys in eastern Lebanon, an area that is part of the supply route to Hezbollah from neighbouring Syria.

Hamas ally Hezbollah has exchanged near-daily cross-border fire with the Israeli army since the Palestinian group attacked Israel on October 7, triggering war in Gaza.

The Shiite Muslim movement claimed several attacks on Israeli troops an positions near the border on Wednesday, including one in stated retaliation for the overnight strike in east Lebanon.

The Israeli military said its air force struck Hezbollah "military infrastructure sites" as well as a military structure and "observation posts" belonging to the group in south Lebanon on Wednesday.

Lebanon's official National News Agency reported Israeli shelling and air strikes in a number of areas in the south.

In the latest major flare-up, the Lebanese group on Sunday launched rockets and drones in retaliation for a top commander's killing as Israel carried out air raids the military said thwarted a larger attack.

Intense diplomacy had sought to head off a broader retaliation for the late July killings of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, and of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an attack in Tehran blamed on Israel.

Israel later revoked a state of emergency declared early on Sunday, and Hezbollah said its operation was "completed".

The cross-border violence since October has killed some 605 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but including at least 131 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side including in the annexed Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians.