Israeli jets launch airstrikes near Sidon in southern Lebanon

BEIRUT

Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes in the town of Ghaziyeh in southern Lebanon on Monday, according to the Lebanese media.

The strikes targeted a vehicle in the town on the southern outskirts of Sidon, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Ambulances were seen rushing to the scene of the attack.

Footage posted to social media showed large fireballs and clouds of smoke from the targeted site.

No information was yet available on casualties.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said fighter jets targeted weapons depots belonging to the Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon.

He said the strikes came as a response to a Hezbollah explosive-laden drone that struck an open field near the northern town of Arbel early Monday.

Tension has flared along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid intermittent exchanges of weapons fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006.

The border tension comes amid an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 29,100 people following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara