BEIRUT, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Israeli airstrikes and shelling on several towns in southern Lebanon killed at least eight people and wounded several others on Thursday, while Hezbollah announced retaliatory attacks against Israeli military positions.
An Israeli airstrike on the town of Doueir killed five people and wounded two others after warplanes struck the al-Barakeh neighborhood, according to the Lebanese National News Agency.
In a separate strike, an Israeli air raid near a government hospital in the southern town of Tebnine killed two people and wounded another, the agency reported.
A hostile drone also struck a motorcycle in the southern village of Froun in southern Lebanon, killing its driver.
Hezbollah later said it launched a series of retaliatory attacks against Israeli troop and vehicle gatherings in the towns of Rshaf and Debel using rocket salvos.
Separately, Hezbollah's military wing issued a message to the group's leader Naim Qassem, pledging to continue operations against Israeli forces and reaffirming loyalty to the group's leadership and resistance strategy.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said that the cumulative death toll from the conflict since March 2, when the latest round of fighting began, has risen to 3,089, with 9,397 others wounded.
A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect at midnight between April 16 and 17. On April 23, Washington said Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend the ceasefire by three weeks. Last week, Washington said the two sides agreed to extend the ceasefire for another 45 days.
Despite the truce, Israel has continued carrying out strikes in Lebanon, while Hezbollah has also launched attacks on northern Israel and Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon. ■
