Two men on mopeds pass buildings destroyed by an Israeli strike in Mais al-Jabal, South Lebanon, May 5, 2024.
Four members of the same family, the parents and their two sons, were killed Sunday morning in an Israeli strike on a business in Mais al-Jabal, in the southern Lebanese district of Marjayoun, according to the local mayor, quoted by L'Orient-Le Jour's South Lebanon correspondent, a security source at AFP and the state-run National News Agency (NNA). In the afternoon, Hezbollah claimed to have retaliated several times to this strike, targeting towns in northern Israel.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah has exchanged fire with the Israeli army on the Lebanese-Israeli border on an almost daily basis.
According to Abdelmoneim Choucair, president of the Mais al-Jabal municipality, the four civilians killed were in a local convenience store. They were a father, Fadi Hnayki, his wife Maya Ammar, and their two children, Mohammad, aged 21, and Ahmad, aged 12. Others were wounded while in the village to inspect their homes and businesses after seven months of war. A Lebanese security source, who requested anonymity, confirmed to AFP that the strike had killed “four civilians.”
'Protecting children and civilians'
“Tragically, a family of four lost their lives in an air strike” in the south of the country, said UNICEF's mission in Lebanon. “We urgently call for an immediate cease-fire and the protection of children and civilians. This violence must stop now," added the UN children's agency on X.
The municipality of Mais al-Jabal condemned the strike in a statement, calling it a “massacre.” “Before local, international and Arab public opinion, we assure that this cowardly enemy is targeting civilians because it has failed to achieve its war aims,” the municipality insisted.
Hezbollah's response was swift, and took the form of a series of strikes, notably on a military position known as “Zaoura,” using “dozens of Katyusha rockets.” The party then targeted several towns in northern Israel, including Kiryat Shmona, with “Katyusha and Falaq rockets,” Avivim, Shtoula, Kfar Yuval, Kfar Guiladi and Margaliot. The Israeli army told AFP it had spotted around 40 rockets fired from Lebanon, “some of which have been intercepted.” “For the time being, no casualties have been reported,” it said, adding that it had responded to the “sources of the fire.” Reuters photos show cars on fire or damaged in Kiryat Shmona, as well as firefighters putting out blazes reported after Hezbollah rocket fire.
An Israeli soldier watches a car burn in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, after Hezbollah rocket fire, May 5, 2024. (Credit: Ayal Margolin/Reuters)
“Fighter jets struck Hezbollah military structures and terrorist infrastructures” in several areas of southern Lebanon, wrote the Israeli army in a statement, while L'Orient-Le Jour's correspondent's sources reported sustained strikes and artillery fire over southern Lebanon throughout the day, including Dhaira and Naqoura (Sour), Markaba, Houla (Marjayoun) and Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil).
In almost seven months of cross-border violence, at least 382 people have been killed, including 290 Hezbollah members, 57 civilians, 18 rescue workers and 3 journalists, according to L'Orient-Le Jour.
On the Israeli side, eleven soldiers and nine civilians were killed, according to an official report quoted by AFP.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.