TEHRAN- Al-Mayadeen correspondent has said that four civilians, including a woman and three children, were martyred in south Lebanon on Sunday when the Israeli regime targeted a car, using a missile that may have been fired from a military drone.  

An Israeli was also killed in a retaliatory strike launched by Lebanon’s Hezbollah into Israel.

The Lebanese victims were three children and their grandmother. The civilian deaths in Lebanon on Sunday were confirmed by a local civil defense official and Lebanese state-run media. 

The incident raises the likelihood of a dangerous new escalation in the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border, Aljazeera said.

Israeli troops and Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters and their allies have been clashing for a month along the border since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7. While clashes remain largely contained, they have increased in intensity as Israel conducts a ground incursion into Gaza against Hamas.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee also said in a statement on Sunday that one Israeli was killed in a retaliatory attack by Hezbollah. He did not specify whether the person was a civilian or a soldier.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said, “The enemy will pay the price for its crimes against civilians”.

Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari offered no apologies for the attack on the Lebanese family.

“Regarding Lebanon, we attack on the basis of intelligence information and we will continue to attack. That is our mission. Anyone who threatens us we will attack them,” Hagari said, before adding that Israel examines “every event that occurs in Lebanon”.