BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Intensive Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed six people and wounded 10 others in southern and southeastern Lebanese towns and villages, according to Lebanese sources.

The casualties were reported in Ibl al-Saqi, Zrarieh, Ansar, and Doueir in southern Lebanon, and Shebaa on the southeastern tip of Lebanon, Lebanese Civil Defense sources told Xinhua.

They said their vehicles and others from the Lebanese Red Cross transported the casualties to hospitals in the city of Nabatieh and the town of Hasbaya in southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Lebanese military sources, who spoke anonymously, said Israeli airstrikes on Friday targeted 24 towns and villages in southern Lebanon and 12 in the east.

On the same day, Hezbollah said in separate statements that it had attacked with drones, missiles, and artillery shells sites and gatherings of Israeli soldiers in the occupied Golan Heights and northern Israel, including in Safed, Haifa, Zar'it, and Kiryat Shmona. It also claimed attacking gatherings of Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah also mourned on Friday the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and reaffirmed its support for the Palestinian people. Sinwar was killed in Israeli operations in Gaza on Wednesday, as confirmed by the Israeli army on Thursday and Hamas earlier on Friday.

Later on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that the Israeli army has so far killed at least 1,500 Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon during the ongoing conflict.

IDF chief Herzi Halevi said during a field tour in southern Lebanon that the exact number of Hezbollah casualties is unknown due to the many Israeli attacks.

The IDF also reported four fighters were seriously wounded on Thursday in fighting in southern Lebanon, three of them from the elite Maglan Unit of Commando Brigade.

Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has been launching intensive airstrikes on Lebanon in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah. It has also conducted what it said was a "limited" ground operation across the border, allegedly to cripple Hezbollah capabilities. Enditem

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