A car in flames after an Israeli drone strike in Ain Baal, in the Tyre district of South Lebanon, on May 21, 2025. (Credit: obtained by Mountasser Abdallah.)
Three people were killed in southern Lebanon on Wednesday by Israeli drone strikes, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent and the Health Ministry.
In Ain Baal (Sour), a Hezbollah member, identified by the Israeli army as a weapons expert, was killed, while in Yater, a drone strike targeted a man clearing the rubble of his house, which had previously been destroyed by an Israeli attack. In Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil), an Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle, killing its driver, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent.
In the morning, Hussein Nazih Bourji, from the village of Rmadieh, was targeted while driving a van in Ain Baal, about seven kilometers southeast of Sour. The vehicle caught fire. A local source identified the victim as a Hezbollah member. According to an Israeli military spokesperson, Bourji was a "weapons expert" responsible for "research, development, and production" of the group's arsenal, including precision missiles. He was in charge of setting up missile infrastructure and rebuilding Hezbollah's capabilities.
Later in the day, another Israeli drone strike targeted a bulldozer in Yater (Bint Jbeil), killing the driver, Ali Hussein Swaidan, who was clearing debris from his house. The Health Ministry reported one other person was seriously injured in the strike.
In the afternoon, Avichay Adraee, on his X account, commented on the Yater strike, claiming that a "commander of the Radwan Force," Hezbollah's elite unit, was killed. A few days earlier, on May 19, the Israeli army claimed to have eliminated "a member of the Radwan Force" in an attack in Houla.
The Israeli army continues to bombard Lebanon, claiming to target Hezbollah militants and infrastructure, maintaining five positions in the south. Lebanon regularly calls on the international community to pressure Israel to cease its attacks and withdraw from its territory, where Israeli strikes have killed at least 162 people since late November, according to our count.
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, sparked by the Gaza war in October 2023, escalated into full-scale war between September and November 2024. The pro-Iranian group was weakened in the confrontation, losing its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an Israeli strike, along with much of its command.
