Hezbollah member killed in Israeli airstrike in S. Lebanon

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Hezbollah member was killed Thursday afternoon in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese sources and the Israeli military.

Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) said an Israeli drone targeted a pickup at the entrance to the border village of Majdal Selm on Thursday afternoon.

The Emergency Operations Center of the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health confirmed a citizen was killed in the strike.

A security source identified the victim as a Hezbollah member named Mohammad Alaa Al-Din.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that the attack killed a militant who took part in Hezbollah's attempts to restore military infrastructure in the area.

NNA also reported heightened Israeli aerial activity, with eight warplanes "flying at high altitude over the city of Baalbek before heading southeast toward the eastern mountain range," and a drone dropping bombs near border villages in the evening.

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, brokered by the U.S. and France, the Israeli army occasionally carries out strikes on Lebanon, claiming they aim at eliminating Hezbollah threats, and has deployed its forces at five points in the Lebanese border area. ■