Israeli Airstrikes in Lebanon Kill at Least 7, Including a Child, State Media Report

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024.(AFP)
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024.(AFP)
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Israeli Airstrikes in Lebanon Kill at Least 7, Including a Child, State Media Report

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024.(AFP)
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila on August 21, 2024.(AFP)

Five Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon on Friday killed at least eight people, including a child and several Hezbollah fighters, state media reported.

A drone strike in the town of Aita al-Jabal killed a 7-year-old child along with one other person, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The Israeli military said the strike killed Mohammad Mahmoud Najem, an operative in Hezbollah’s drone and rocket unit.

Iran-backed Hezbollah later confirmed Najem’s death and also announced the deaths of four other members Friday.

Photographs from the scene showed a burned-out small pickup truck.

The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has been clashing nearly daily with Israeli forces in the border region for more than 10 months. The clashes have killed more than 500 people in Lebanon — most of them fighters but including more than 100 civilians and noncombatants — and 23 soldiers and 26 civilians in Israel.



White House Sees Latest Gaza Talks as Constructive

 Smoke rises from an explosion in Gaza, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, near the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, August 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from an explosion in Gaza, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, near the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, August 23, 2024. (Reuters)
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White House Sees Latest Gaza Talks as Constructive

 Smoke rises from an explosion in Gaza, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, near the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, August 23, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises from an explosion in Gaza, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, near the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, August 23, 2024. (Reuters)

Talks in Cairo aimed at reaching a Gaza ceasefire have been "constructive," with some progress made, and all sides need to come together to work toward implementation of a proposed agreement, the White House said on Friday.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the discussions will continue on Friday with CIA Director Bill Burns and US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk representing the United States.

Kirby said Hamas should participate in the negotiations, which on Thursday included negotiators from Israel, the United States, Egypt and Qatar but not Hamas.

"We're in Cairo. They're in Cairo. We need Hamas to participate, and we need to get down to the brass tacks of locking in these details. And that's what we're focused on here in the next, coming days here over the course of the weekend," Kirby said.

He said early signs in Cairo were that the discussions "have been constructive," but more talks are planned.

"Things are moving forward," he said, denying some news reports that the talks were near collapse.