At least six Hezbollah members were killed Friday in separate Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, as the Iran-backed terrorist organization launched anti-tank missile and rockets attacks on the north.
The strikes included the targeting of a Hezbollah cell preparing to shoot rockets from the village of Tayr Harfa, killing three operatives. The other three Hezbollah members were killed in separate attacks in Ayta al-Jabal, Mays al-Jabal and Aitaroun.
Lebanese media later reported an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in the southern town of Maarakeh, in the Tyre District. No further details were immediately available.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the airstrike in Ayta al-Jabal targeted Muhammad Najam, a prominent member of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile unit in southern Lebanon. Lebanese media reported that alongside Najam, his nephew Zulfiqar Radwan was also killed in the strike on Ayta al-Jabal.
The IDF said the operative in Mays al-Jabal had launched rockets at the Yiftah area earlier in the day and was killed upon being spotted at a building used by Hezbollah, while the operative in Aitaroun was struck shooting projectiles toward Malkia.
Hezbollah as of Friday afternoon released statements announcing five operatives who were killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes, naming Najam among them.
Their deaths brought Hezbollah’s declared toll to at least 424 since it began attacking northern Israel a day after the October 7 terror onslaught from Gaza by its Palestinian ally Hamas.
The Israeli strikes followed several Hezbollah attacks in the morning, including the firing of missiles at the Mount Meron base.
Hezbollah has attacked Mount Meron, located some eight kilometers (5 miles) from the Lebanon border, several times amid the ongoing war, launching large barrages of rockets toward the site, as well as guided missiles at the sensitive air traffic control base that sits atop it.
The IDF reported no injuries in the latest attack, during which three projectiles were fired at the base, one of which was intercepted.
Hezbollah also launched some 20 rockets at northern Israel on Friday, none of which resulted in injuries.
Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza amid the war against the Hamas terror group there.
So far, the skirmishes have resulted in 26 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 19 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.
In addition to the 424 members whose deaths Hezbollah has announced during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon but some also in Syria, another 73 operatives from other terror groups have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli strikes. A Lebanese soldier and dozens of civilians have also been killed.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.