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Israel hit what it said were 30 Hezbollah military sites in quick succession, in at least four locations in the south of Lebanon on Wednesday morning, as the surge in fighting of recent days between the sides continued.
The Israeli military said its fighter jets had struck Hezbollah launch sites and military positions in the early hours. Videos shared by residents of south Lebanon showed huge fireballs shooting up into the air as Israel attacked. The strikes were concentrated on an area with orchards and forests.
The Israeli offensive caused significant damage to civilian infrastructure and farmland, Lebanon's National News Agency said.
About 100,000 people have been displaced in south Lebanon since October, amid the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The conflict is running in parallel with Israel's brutal war on Gaza, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has been largely confined to the border region, but has occasionally – and increasingly more frequently – spread to other parts of Lebanon.
The latest attack came after at least eight people were injured on Tuesday after Israeli drone strikes hit a residential building in the south Lebanese city of Nabatieh. The city, which lies only 14km from Israel, remains densely populated despite regular cross-border violence since October. Ten civilians were killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the area last month.
The situation in south Lebanon had somewhat calmed over the last two weeks after Hezbollah completed its long-awaited retaliation to the assassination of its commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut in July. But recent days have seen a surge in hostilities again. Israeli officials have increasingly indicated that their army's focus will soon shift from Gaza to northern Israel.
In Lebanon, about 615 people – mostly Hezbollah fighters or their allies but also at least 138 civilians – have been killed by Israeli bombardment since October. On the Israeli side, including in the occupied Golan Heights, the army says at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed.