Israeli Airstrike Hits Southern Lebanon as U.S. and Iran Exchange Fire for Second Day

Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike in the Nabatiyeh area of southern Lebanon on Friday morning, sending a large plume of smoke rising over the horizon. The strike followed a chaotic Thursday in which the United States and Iran exchanged fire for a second consecutive day.

U.S. President Donald Trump issued a warning that Tehran would pay a heavy price for stalled negotiations, according to Euronews reporting. Israeli strikes continued overnight into Friday across southern Lebanon, including in the towns of Marjayoun and Qlayaa.

Streets in southern Lebanon towns are nearly deserted, with only a few vehicles and a handful of residents outside, AP reported.

Some shops remain open while destroyed buildings and burned-out cars are visible every few metres. Christian families remaining in the border area report living in constant fear and being too afraid to step outside. On Thursday, an Israeli strike wounded 10 staff members of a hospital in Tyre.

Air campaigns that day targeted several areas in southern Lebanon and a village in the Baalbek region. All three hospitals in Tyre have been damaged by similar strikes since the start of the latest war between Hezbollah and Israel in early March. The escalation built on a wave of lethal strikes on Wednesday.

A large plume of smoke was seen rising over the southern Lebanese village of Houmin on Wednesday afternoon. An airstrike on a village east of Tyre killed at least six people, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency. Two additional people were killed on Wednesday by an Israeli drone strike targeting a car in Sidon.

In a video message on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israel Defence Force had taken out nearly 10,000 Hezbollah militants and that the military has been "systematically clearing out" Iranian-backed forces. The surge in military operations comes as diplomatic tracks remain deadlocked.