Woman and three children killed by Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon

06 November 2023 , 14:21

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Samir Ayoub, uncle of three children who were killed by an Israeli airstrike, puts flowers on their car in the town of Ainata (Image: AP)

Fears of the Israel-Hamas war spreading to across the Middle East region continue to grow after an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon killed four civilians - including a woman and three kids.

Israel is Hezbollah's sworn enemy, and they have been exchanging fire with the IDF on Israel's northern border since October 7. The state-run National News Agency in Lebanon says that two civilian cars carrying members of the same family were driving on Sunday evening when they were pummelled by an Israeli airstrike.

One missile was a direct hit, in turn sending one of the cars up in flames. One woman and three girls, ages 10, 12 and 14 were killed, the report said.

Hezbollah returned fire shortly after the Israeli strike, confirming its fighters had fired Grad rockets from southern Lebanon. A number of the rockets hit the town of Kiryat Shmona on Sunday night, according to Israeli rescue services. An Associated Press verified video showed a car up in flames on a street in the town.

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People stand beside the car damaged in the strike in south Lebanon (AP)

The Hezbollah attack left one civilian dead, according to the Israeli military. The army didn't clarify whether it was the Kiyat Shimoni attack on a different one.

A Lebanese journalist who was in the car in front of the one that was hit, told AP the three girls were his nieces. The older woman was their grandma.

“There were no men in the car that was hit — there were three innocent young children with their grandmother and their mother,” he said. “Three children were burned in the car and no one could save them. And I pulled out their mother as she was screaming, ‘My children!’ Where are the terrorists? Israelis, you are the terrorists."

Samir Ayoub, uncle of three children who were killed by an Israeli airstrike, puts flowers and a burning book on their car in the town of Ainata, south Lebanon (AP)

Head of the Salah Ghandour Hospital in Bint Jbeil, Mohammad Suleiman, said the bodies were "completely burned", and that their mother was wounded but in a stable condition. She was transferred to another hospital in the area.

An Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari refused to comment on the details of the strike. He said: "We study and investigate all incidents that take place to know the details.”

Najib Mikati, the country's caretaker prime minister, slammed Israel for the attack. He called it a "heinous crime", adding that Beirut will be filing a complaint to the UN's Security Council.

Ryan Fahey