IDF hits Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon; Beirut says newly-wed woman killed

A Lebanese woman, described as a newlywed, lost her life and several others sustained injuries following Israeli strikes in the town of Arab Salim, situated in the southern Lebanon's Nabatieh district. Lebanon's Ministry of Health reported that six individuals were wounded, comprising a child, a woman, and two elderly people. The woman who perished had been married for a mere 48 hours and her residence was annihilated in the attack, according to the National News Agency (NNA).

Lebanese security sources affirmed that at least ten Israeli strikes had been executed in the wider Nabatieh area. The NNA also revealed that artillery shelling had been targeted at the outskirts of the town of Rashaf, in the Bint Jbeil district.

The Israeli military attributed the strikes to Hezbollah, a group backed by Iran, which had targeted its soldiers in the south the previous night. The Israeli military claimed to have struck Hezbollah's "weapon storage facilities". The attacks were allegedly carried out in retaliation for Hezbollah's launch of armed drones towards Israeli forces in the Ali al-Taher ridge during the night.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, stated that the Israeli army was targeting infrastructure and that the attacks were in retaliation for Hezbollah's actions. She noted that the area, which overlooks the strategic high ground of Nabatieh's city, remains contested, and Israel wants Hezbollah to vacate this contested territory.

This has led to an increase in military pressure from Israel. However, Israel maintains that its soldiers were targeted by two explosive drones launched by Iran-backed fighters, with no casualties reported.