Seven Hezbollah fighters were killed and four civilians were wounded at Friday dawn during violent confrontations with Israeli forces on the border, according to the Shiite military group and Lebanese security sources.
Hezbollah released a statement mourning its slain members.
Sources from Lebanese Internal Security Forces and medical sources told Xinhua that three Lebanese citizens and a Syrian refugee were wounded from artillery shelling and Israeli air strikes on several areas in southern Lebanon, adding that the Lebanese Red Cross had transferred them to hospitals.
According to Lebanese military sources, the casualties on Friday raised the death toll on the Lebanese side to 73 since Oct. 8, including 57 Hezbollah fighters, nine Hamas members, and seven civilians, including a journalist.
The sources added that the borderline witnessed a series of confrontations in the early morning hours, with Israeli warplanes and drones carrying out three air strikes on the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab and Halta villages and Labouneh region in southern Lebanon.
They also indicated that Israeli heavy artillery attacked the outskirts of Al-Mari, Mays al-Jabal, Kafr Kila, Houla, and Odeissah villages, in addition to Bastra Farm and the heights of Jabal Sadana in southeast Lebanon.
Israeli forces also attacked other southwestern areas, causing material damage.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced that its fighters attacked 19 Israeli military sites with missiles in several areas.
The Lebanon-Israel border has witnessed increased tension for weeks after Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israeli military sites on Oct. 8 in support of the Hamas attacks on Israel the previous day, prompting the Israeli forces to respond by firing heavy artillery toward several areas in southern Lebanon.
