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Israeli artillery delivers strikes on seven settlements in southern Lebanon

It is reported that shells are falling near residential areas, but there is no data about casualties

© EPA-EFE/AYAL MARGOLIN

BEIRUT, November 3. /TASS/. Israeli artillery units have opened heavy fire on Lebanese border areas in response to a Hezbollah attack, a source in the administration of the city of Marjayoun told TASS on Friday.

According to the source, coming under shelling are the settlements of Tayr Harfa, Ayta ash-Shab, Jibbain, Ramiye, al-Quzah, Naqoura, and Alma ash-Shab.

"Shells are falling near residential areas, but there is no data about casualties," the source said. "Israeli drones and fighter jets continue to fly over the area."

Per the source, after Israel's shelling attacks on Thursday, at least 10,000 civilians fled the danger zone and moved to Tyre. "Thus, the number of refugees has increased to 30,000 since October 8," he said.

The Lebanese Red Cross reported that five civilians were killed and three more were wounded in southern Lebanon on Thursday.

In a statement released on his Telegram channel on Friday, Lebanon’s acting Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib condemned Israel’s disproportionate use of force. "Israeli government members are threatening to send our country back to the Stone Age," he stressed. "Why isn’t the international community reacting to such threats to Lebanon?"

Lebanon’s acting Minister of Agriculture Abbas Hajj Hassan told the L’Orient Le Jour newspaper that Israel's use of banned phosphorus munitions against international conventions has caused serious damage to the country’s farming sector. "Fires in southern districts have destroyed some 40,000 olive trees in recent days," he noted.

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