Eight killed in Israel strikes on Lebanon, Israeli soldier dead in crossfire

Eight people, all but one of them civilians, were killed Wednesday in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon, official sources said, while the Israeli army said it lost a soldier in cross-border rocket fire.

While the rocket attack was not immediately claimed, the exchanges of fire -- and the worst single-day civilian death toll in Lebanon since cross-border hostilities began in October -- raised fears of a broader conflict between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.

On Wednesday evening, four civilians from the same family “including two women” were killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the city of Nabatiyeh, a Lebanese security source told AFP, updating an initial toll of three dead.

“The residents of the apartment targeted have no links to Hezbollah,” added the source, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

“A woman was killed along with her child and her stepchild in a strike that targeted Sawwaneh,” while a fourth civilian was killed in a strike on a building in Adshit, the security source told AFP, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Nine other people were wounded in the strikes on south Lebanon, the source added.

The Israeli raids targeted several different locations in south Lebanon, around 10 to 25 kilometers (six to 15 miles) from the Israeli border.

Images purportedly of the raids circulating on social media showed wide destruction.

The Israeli military said Wednesday its fighter jets “began a series of strikes in Lebanon,” raising fears of a war between the two countries after months of cross-border violence.

The strikes came hours after unclaimed rocket fire from Lebanon wounded seven people in northern Israel, five of them in the town of Safad, medics said.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been trading near-daily fire with Israeli troops since the outbreak of the war in Gaza more than four months ago.

The cross-border violence has killed at least 247 people on the Lebanese side, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including 34 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, nine soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to the Israeli army.