Thursday's attack on Israeli Metula is one of the deadliest on the Israeli side in the fighting against Hezbollah. According to Israeli media, the victims are one Israeli and four people with foreign citizenship. Another person was seriously injured.
Residents of Metula, which has been heavily affected by Hezbollah's rocket fire over the past year, were evacuated as early as October last year. The only ones left are agricultural workers and representatives of the security service, writes news agency AP.
On Thursday, two more people were killed in a rocket attack in northern Israel at an olive grove. According to AFP, the victims were a 30-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman.
Threats to several communities
In Lebanon, at least eight people were killed on Thursday, writes AFP.
Lebanon's Health Department also reports that six healthcare workers were killed and four more injured in southern Lebanon, but it is still unclear if they are in addition to the eight deaths recorded. The healthcare workers are said to have been affiliated with Hezbollah or the allied Amal movement.
Israel urged all residents of ten villages and communities in southern Lebanon to leave their homes during the day, threatening imminent attacks there. Several attacks were then reported against one of the villages.
Several of the communities, including a Palestinian refugee camp, had tens of thousands of inhabitants before Israel's escalation of attacks on Lebanon about a month ago.
For the second day in a row, Israel also issued a warning against the city of Baalbek and surrounding areas in the country's eastern regions. On Thursday afternoon, the Lebanese state news agency NNA reported Israeli attacks around the area.
Children are killed daily
Since the war between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in September, a large part of Lebanon's population has been driven from their homes.
According to UNICEF, the UN children's organization, at least one child has been killed every day in Lebanon over the past month. On average, ten children have been injured every day.
On Wednesday evening, a UN base with hundreds of Irish peacekeeping soldiers was attacked by a rocket, reports Irish public service broadcaster RTÉ.
General Lieutenant Sean Clancy says, according to RTÉ, that the rocket appears to have traveled south from Lebanon towards Israel before falling in an uninhabited part of the base without causing major damage.
