MAIFADOUN, Aug 06 (BBC): Israel says it has carried out an air strike against what it said was a "military structure" used by the armed group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese health ministry said four people were killed in the strike on a house in the town of Maifadoun, around 30km from the Israeli border.
Security sources told the AFP news agency that the four men were Hezbollah fighters. In an apparent response, the group launched drone strikes on towns in northern Israel, injuring two people.
It comes amid increasing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, and with Iran which backs the group.
Last week, an Israeli air strike killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut, in what Israeli officials called an "intelligence-based elimination". Israeli officials say he was responsible for a rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last month which killed 12 children and teenagers. Hezbollah has denied any involvement in that attack.
Hours after Shukr was assassinated, the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in the Iranian capital Tehran - Iran blamed the attack on Israel. Hezbollah and Iran have vowed to retaliate over the deaths, sparking fears that the tit-for-tat blows could ignite a broader regional conflict.
Several countries, including the US, have urged citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible. The country's foreign minister said on Tuesday that he was working to ensure that Hezbollah did not trigger a major escalation with its response to Shukr's death.
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