Israeli air strike hits truck in Lebanon carrying military equipment, security source says

An Israeli airstrike struck a pickup truck carrying military equipment in northeast Lebanon, amid rising tensions with Hezbollah.

 An explosion takes place as Israeli strikes hit southern Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Zibqin, Lebanon, August 25, 2024, in this still image obtained from a video. (photo credit: REUTERS)
An explosion takes place as Israeli strikes hit southern Lebanon, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Zibqin, Lebanon, August 25, 2024, in this still image obtained from a video.
(photo credit: REUTERS)

An Israeli air strike hit a pickup truck traveling in northeast Lebanon late on Tuesday, two security sources told Reuters, with one of the sources saying it carried military equipment.

The two sources said the strike hit a pickup near Chaat, a remote area of Lebanon near the Syrian border, but that the driver survived.

One of the sources said it was likely the military equipment being transported was a damaged rocket launcher on the way to be repaired.

Two days earlier, the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah and the Israeli military engaged in one of the most intense exchanges of fire between them over the last 10 months amid fears that Israel's war in Gaza would become a wider regional conflict.

An interception of rockets fired from Lebanon near the Israeli border with Lebanon, on July 9, 2024. (credit: MICHAEL GILADI/FLASH90)
An interception of rockets fired from Lebanon near the Israeli border with Lebanon, on July 9, 2024. (credit: MICHAEL GILADI/FLASH90)

Hezbollah fired drones and rockets at Israel early on Sunday to avenge a top military commander killed by Israel last month.

Israel's statement

Israel has said its strikes on Lebanon on Sunday destroyed Hezbollah rocket launch sites and prevented a wider attack by the group. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the attack had gone as planned and that Israeli strikes afterwards had damaged some Hezbollah launch sites.

On Tuesday, a UN peacekeeping force told Reuters that it had detected a rocket launch from near one of its positions in southern Lebanon.