The battles between Hezbollah and Israel have been ongoing near the village of al-Qawzah in southern Lebanon, and are being fought "at close range with various types of automatic weapons", according to Hezbollah to AFP.
In connection with the offensive in Lebanon, the Israeli military has found "state-of-the-art" Russian weapons in Hezbollah's bases in the southern parts of the country, according to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hezbollah has dug hundreds of tunnels and hiding places in the area, where we have just found a large quantity of state-of-the-art Russian weapons, he says to Le Figaro.
At the same time, reports are emerging of several Israeli air strikes during the day, which have collectively killed at least 25 people.
Mayor killed
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that Israel has carried out several attacks on healthcare facilities in Lebanon, and that an increasing number of institutions have been forced to close.
”WHO calls for an end to the attacks on healthcare facilities”, the UN agency states in a statement.
On Wednesday, Israel carried out air strikes against two municipal buildings in Nabatieh, among other things. In the attack, five people were killed – including the city's mayor, according to Lebanon's Health Department in a statement to AFP.
Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemns the attacks on municipal buildings, which he claims were intentional, according to AP.
In the city of Qana, in southern Lebanon, at least 15 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Wednesday morning.
Attacks in the Beirut area
In the Haret Hreik neighborhood, just south of the capital Beirut, black smoke billowed between the buildings after Israeli dawn attacks. Israel claims that a strategic weapons depot was bombed. The attacks are the first in the Beirut area after a six-day hiatus.
During the night, Lebanese militia also launched an attack in the opposite direction, with around 50 projectiles fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel, according to the Israeli military. A number of them were shot down, the Israeli military announced on Telegram. There are no reports of casualties.
