At least eight killed in Israeli strikes on south Lebanon, security sources say

Hezbollah said it had launched dozens of rockets over the border at Kiryat Shmona in Israel in response to deadly Israeli air strikes

At least eight people including Hezbollah fighters have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon, security sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Five were killed in a strike on the border village of Tair Harfa and a strike shortly afterward that hit a restaurant in the border town of Naqura killed at least another three people, the security sources and official Lebanese media said.

Iran-backed Hezbollah said it had launched dozens of rockets over the border at Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel early on Wednesday in response to deadly Israeli air strikes on the village of Hebbariyeh in southern Lebanon a day earlier.

Those air strikes near two towns in northeast Lebanon killed three Hezbollah militants, the heavily armed Shi'ite Muslim group said.

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire across the border since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza in October, in the biggest escalation between the long-time enemies since a month-long war in 2006.