Israeli warplanes launched a series of air raids on Hezbollah sites and towns and villages in southern and eastern Lebanon early Saturday morning, said Lebanese military sources.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes carried out more than 100 airstrikes on southern Lebanon and about 50 on towns and villages in eastern Lebanon.

They added that the raids targeted Hezbollah sites and the outskirts of dozens of towns, in addition to open areas, valleys and forests.

The Israeli military claimed after the massive attacks on Saturday that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an airstrike on the Lebanese militant group’s target in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

“Most of the raids in southern Lebanon targeted towns and villages surrounding the cities of Tyre and Nabatieh, the heights of the Jezzine region, Iqlim al-Tuffah, and the border villages extending from the southeast village of Kafr Kila to the outskirts of Naqoura in the west,” said the Lebanese sources.

The s
trikes targeted four civil defense centers, wounding five people who were transferred to a hospital in the city of Nabatieh, while in eastern Lebanon, the raids hit the city of Baalbek and surrounding villages, according to the sources.

Confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have escalated recently after the latter announced the expansion of its offensive against Hamas to Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced the start of a new phase in its battle to support Gaza.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency