BEIRUT 

At least three people were killed and two others injured late Tuesday from Israeli airstrikes targeting the town of Al-Dhahirah in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.

Earlier, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes conducted two airstrikes on the town.

The agency noted that the strikes occurred just minutes apart, without providing details on the intended targets.

The identities of the victims have not yet been determined.

Fears of a full-fledged war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group have grown amid an exchange of cross-border attacks, especially after the July 30 assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of a deadly Israeli onslaught on Gaza which has killed over 40,170 people since last October following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio