Hamas-linked group in south Lebanon says strike kills 7

A Lebanese militant organisation closely linked to Palestinian group Hamas said Wednesday that seven people were killed in an overnight strike in south Lebanon.

Speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, a Jamaa Islamiya official said "seven rescuers" were killed in a strike on an emergency centre in Habariyeh near the Israeli border.

Several militant groups in Lebanon operate health centres and emergency response operations.

Jamaa Islamiya's emergency responders said in a statement that "a number" of people had been killed, and called the strike a "heinous crime".

Another official from Jamaa Islamiya, also requesting anonymity, said a dozen rescue workers were in the emergency centre at the time of the strike, adding that bodies were being pulled from the rubble.

Hamas allies in Lebanon, mainly Hezbollah, have exchanged near-daily fire with Israeli forces along Lebanon's southern border since war erupted in the Gaza Strip following Hamas's 7 October attacks on southern Israel.

Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Hamas with its attacks, while Israel has also targeted Hezbollah and Hamas officials in Lebanon.

Not including the latest strike, at least 331 people have been killed in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but including at least 57 civilians, in the cross-border hostilities, according to an AFP count.

At least 10 Israeli soldiers and seven civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to the Israeli military.

The hostilities have raised fears of all-out conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which fought a devastating war in 2006.