Hezbollah demands that Israel "pay price" for the bombing that killed three children in Lebanon

 Hezbollah demands that Israel "pay price" for the bombing that killed three children in Lebanon

November 5, BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Three children and their grandmother were murdered on Sunday by an Israeli hit on a vehicle in south Lebanon, according to Lebanese officials. Meanwhile, the Israeli army said that one Israeli citizen was killed in a Hezbollah assault in northern Israel.

Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese militia, claimed credit for unleashing a barrage of Grad rockets on the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona in retaliation for the Israeli attack that claimed the lives of three girls aged between ten and fourteen.

After four weeks of fighting with Israeli troops, this is the first time Hezbollah has acknowledged employing that specific weapon, highlighting the potential for escalation.

Hezbollah said in a statement that it would respond "firm and strong" to any assault on civilians and that it would never accept such acts.

According to Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah, "the enemy will pay the price because of their crimes against civilians," as reported by Reuters.

The Israeli military claimed that it was investigating rumors that civilians may have been aboard a car that its forces had "identified as a suspected transport for terrorists" in Lebanon on Sunday.

Najib Mikati, the acting prime minister of Lebanon, described it as a "heinous crime." Lebanon would file a protest with the UN on the attack's death of civilians, including young people, Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Reuters.

Rescuers were seen in footage from the television station al-Mayadeen extracting one of the victims from the burning wreckage of the automobile.

The youngsters were murdered, according to a report from the Lebanese security forces, when Israel struck the vehicle they were riding in between the towns of Aitaroun and Aynata.

Their mother suffered injuries, and their grandma also perished.

Following the October 7 fighting between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, Israel and Hezbollah have begun engaging in gunfire across the border. This is the deadliest cross-border fighting since the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Without providing any information, the Israeli military reported that Hezbollah attacked across the border on Sunday, killing one Israeli.

According to the official news agency, Mikati stressed the need of achieving a truce in Gaza and putting an end to Israeli assault in southern Lebanon during his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier on Saturday in Amman.

DOWNED DRONE

The Israeli military claimed earlier on Sunday that an anti-tank missile launched from Lebanon struck the Yiftah region of northern Israel, and that its air defenses had intercepted a drone headed towards Israel from Lebanon while it was above Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah said that it will launch several guided missile and other weapon assaults on Israeli positions along the border.

According to the Israeli army, the drone was seen heading toward Israel from a remote area of Lebanon.

Hezbollah shot down a hostile drone over south Lebanon, with debris landing over the towns of Zebdine and Harouf, which are 30 km (20 miles) from the border, according to an earlier report by the state-owned National News Agency of Lebanon, quoting its reporter.

Hezbollah has not responded on the report.

During the most recent confrontations, Hezbollah has for the first time acknowledged using anti-aircraft missiles.

Four of the Amal Movement's paramedics in Lebanon were injured by an Israeli drone attack, according to a scout troop connected to the Hezbollah-allying organization, during an event that occurred 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the border.

The drone attacked two vehicles head-on while rescuers were pulling people from a home damaged in a previous Israeli assault close to Tayr Harfa, according to the Islamic Al-Risala Scout Association.

Editing by Conor Humphries, Giles Elgood, as well as Aurora Ellis; writing by Tom Perry; investigation by Laila Bassam as well as Tom Perry in Beirut; Maytaal Angel and Emily Rose in Jerusalem