BEIRUT, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Seven Hezbollah fighters, including Hezbollah official Hussein Yazbek, were killed Wednesday night in confrontations on the Lebanese-Israeli border, local media reported.
According to Al-Jadeed local TV channel, Yazbek and his three bodyguards were killed in an Israeli air raid on a house in the southern town of Naqoura.
Meanwhile, the other three fighters were killed in an air raid on a house in the southern village of Markaba, according to the National News Agency.
Hezbollah announced earlier in the day that two of its fighters were killed due to Israeli airstrikes and heavy artillery shelling in several villages and towns in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanon-Israel border witnessed increased tension since Oct. 8 after the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israel in support of the Hamas attacks on Israel the previous day, prompting Israel to respond by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.
The confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel killed 201 on the Lebanese side, including 146 Hezbollah members and 35 civilians, according to Lebanese security sources. ■
