Update: Death toll from Israeli airstrikes on S. Lebanon rises to 4

BEIRUT, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) — The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health announced on Sunday afternoon that the death toll from Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon had risen to four, with seven others injured.
According to a statement issued by the ministry’s Public Health Emergency Operations Center, an Israeli raid on the southwestern Lebanese village of al-Malikiyah killed one person and injured three others.
The center announced earlier in the day that three people were killed and four others injured in three separate Israeli raids on the villages of Khiam, Aitaroun, and Al-Maaliya.
Military sources, who spoke anonymously, said Israeli warplanes and drones carried out four raids on four border villages and towns in the afternoon, and Israeli artillery shelled eight villages and towns.
The sources said earlier in the day that about 90 Israeli airstrikes, involving drones and warplanes, targeted Hezbollah sites on the outskirts of dozens of southern Lebanese towns and villages.
In a statement, Hezbollah announced it launched drone attacks on Israeli forces near kibbutz Manara and Yiftah barracks, successfully hitting the targets.
The Lebanese armed group also reported a missile strike on the Motella settlement, claiming it hit accurately.
Tension along the Israel-Lebanon border has escalated sharply following communication device explosions across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday that killed 37 people and injured 2,931, as well as an Israeli airstrike on Friday targeting a building in the Jamous area in the southern suburbs of Beirut that killed 37 and injured 66.
The Israeli army and Hezbollah, which has deep ties to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, have been exchanging fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since Oct. 8, 2023, raising fears that the nearly one-year-long confrontations could escalate into a full-scale war. ■