Three killed in Israeli strike on home in Bint Jbeil, Lebanon

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Three people were killed and one wounded in an Israeli strike on their homes overnight on Wednesday in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil.

One of the people killed was Hezbollah militant Ali Ahmed Bazzi, the Iran-backed group confirmed on Wednesday morning.

Bazzi’s brother Ibrahim and Ibrahim’s wife Shorouk Hammoud were also killed in the strike, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

“They were in their homes,” a senior medic who works with the Civil Defence in south Lebanon told media.

He said there were no signs of fighting near by before the strike.

“It seems [Ali Bazzi] was targeted,” he said.

Medics and ambulance teams searched under the rubble for hours before finding the bodies, state media said.

The fighter’s brother Ibrahim Bazzi had recently moved to Lebanon from Australia, where he had lived for years, the report said. His plan was to return to Australia with his wife.

Shorouk Hammoud was recovered first, the Civil Defence medic told media.

“When they found her she was alive, but she died shortly after,” he said.

Cross-border battles between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group have intensified in recent days. Although largely confined to border areas on either side, Israel has occasionally struck deeper into south Lebanon.