4 Hezbollah fighters killed in Israeli attacks on S. Lebanon

Hezbollah fighters

BEIRUT, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli forces launched five airstrikes and heavy artillery targeting southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing four Hezbollah fighters and wounding two civilians, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israeli warplanes and drones targeted the town of Marwahin and the villages of Aita al-Shaab and Rmeish in the central sector of southern Lebanon, while the Israeli heavy artillery shelled several villages in both the eastern and western parts of southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah attacked the Israeli military site of Ramtha in the Shebaa Farms with a batch of rockets.

The Lebanon-Israel border witnessed increased tension since Oct. 8 after the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israel in support of the Hamas attack on Israel the previous day, prompting Israel to respond by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

The confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have killed 187 people on the Lebanese side, including 132 Hezbollah members and 35 civilians, according to Lebanese security sources.