BEIRUT 

The Israeli army announced late Wednesday that its warplanes struck targets of the Lebanese Hezbollah group in three areas of southern Lebanon.

“Warplanes struck military structures and infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah shortly before in the areas of Ayta ash-Shab and Marwahin in southern Lebanon,” the army said in a statement on X.

It added that earlier on Wednesday, its warplanes “targeted Hezbollah infrastructure in the area of ​​Tayr Harfa in Tyre district (of southern Lebanon).”

Hezbollah has not immediately commented on the Israeli army's claims.

The army also said in its statement that earlier in the day, two anti-tank missiles were detected heading towards the Shtula area in the western Galilee region of northern Israel.

It said that the missiles “caused damage to the area without causing injuries,” adding that “the sources of fire were attacked.”

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported earlier Wednesday that two houses in the Shtula settlement “were significantly damaged by anti-tank missiles fired from Lebanon.”

Hezbollah said in a brief statement on Wednesday evening that its fighters “targeted two houses in the Zionist settlement of Shtula with guided missiles and directly hit them as well as a building in the Zionist settlement of Metula (in Upper Galilee) with suitable weapons and directly hit it.”

Tensions have escalated along Lebanon’s border with Israel amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with its deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 34,600 people since last October following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala