Beirut, Mar 2 (UNI) Four Hezbollah fighters were killed and three other people were wounded on Friday in Israeli air strikes targeting a village in the border region of southern Lebanon, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, said that the casualties were caused by several Israeli raids on the village of Ramyah in the Bent Jbeil district in southern Lebanon.

According to military sources, Israel carried out four air strikes on Ramyah and three on the villages of Aita al-Shaab and Jabal Balat, destroying five houses and damaging 15 others.

Meanwhile, Israel fired about 40 shells on nine towns and villages in southern Lebanon.

For its part, Hezbollah said its fighters shot down an Israeli drone in southwest Lebanon.

The military sources told Xinhua that the Lebanese army, in cooperation with UNIFIL peacekeepers, carried out a sweeping operation and found an Israeli drone in the Labouneh area.

The sources said the drone, carrying leaflets, had been transported to one of the Lebanese military centers.

Hezbollah added that its fighters on Friday attacked a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Jal al-Alam site and the sites of Ruwaisat al-Alam, al-Manara, al-Baghdadi, Ramim, and Hadab al-Bustan.

The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing increased tension since Oct. 8, 2023, after Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israel in support of the Hamas attack on Israel the previous day, prompting Israel to respond by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

The confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have killed 329 people on the Lebanese side, including 223 Hezbollah members and 61 civilians, according to Lebanese security sources. UNI/XINHUA AKS