Two Kornet missiles were fired from Lebanon toward the Israeli settlement of al-Manara on Thursday morning, and Israel responded with artillery fire on the outskirts of Mais al-Jabal on the Lebanese side of the border, the Lebanese state agency reported.
Several towns on the western side of the border were shelled at dawn on Thursday, the state news agency said. No injuries were reported in Israeli airstrikes on the outskirts of the town of Naqoura in southern Lebanon, the agency added.
Israeli aircraft were flying over southern Lebanon and the coastal city of Saida around midnight, according to the state news agency. Israel also fired flare bombs across the Blue Line of demarcation.
The agency also reported that the dead bodies retrieved by the Lebanese Red Cross in Alma al-Shaab in southern Lebanon were of fighters. It did not specify the number of casualties.
CNN reported two days ago that the Red Cross was heading to retrieve four dead bodies from Alma al-Shaab.
The Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday that it is actively “striking the origins of the fire from Lebanon.” Six launches from Lebanon into northern Israel triggered alarms on Thursday, it added, saying one projectile was intercepted, while five landed in open areas. The IDF also reported anti-tank missiles and small arms fire coming from Lebanon but said there were no injuries.
News of the missiles come amid clashes along Israel’s border with Lebanon. Hezbollah — an armed group backed by Iran — dominates the southern part of the country, and while the fighting there appears marginal compared to fighting between Israel and Hamas, it raises fears of a wider war that could drawn in a myriad of actors.