BEIRUT

Two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, the Health Ministry said.

A ministry statement did not provide details about the victims, saying only that the attack targeted the border town of Baraachit.

Some Lebanese media outlets said that the two were members of Hezbollah, but there was no confirmation yet from the group.

Three civilians were also injured in an Israeli airstrike in the town of Chihine, the ministry said in another statement.

Israeli artillery shelling was also reported in Chihine and Khiyam in southern Lebanon.

No information was yet available about injuries or damage.

The airstrikes came shortly after Hezbollah claimed multiple attacks on Israeli military sites along the border with southern Lebanon, saying the attacks resulted in casualties among Israeli soldiers.

Fears have grown about a full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah amid a months-long exchange of cross-border fire, especially with Hezbollah threatening military retaliation after the assassination of its top commander Fouad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on July 30.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of an Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 40,000 people since last October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio