BEIRUT, August 21. /TASS/. The Israeli army shelled several settlements in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported.

According to the news agency, the strikes were carried out, in particular, on the villages of Ayta al-Shaab, Ad-Dahira, Naqoura and Hula. In Ad-Dahira, four people were killed in the shelling, two more were wounded.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking hundreds of hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.

Another round of escalation in the Middle East followed the violent death of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the elimination of Hezbollah top military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah held Israel responsible and asserted that the attacks will be met with retaliation.