Israel uses combat helicopters in southern Lebanon for the first time — two strikes on a commercial center in Nabatieh

Israel carried out on Sunday two combat-helicopter strikes on a commercial center on the main road linking the towns of Shoukin and Mayfadoun in the Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon. According to Lebanon’s national news agency, the second strike was carried out less than 10 minutes after the first — and this is the first time Israel has used combat helicopters in the daily strikes it carries out on Lebanese territory, as Al Jazeera reports.

The helicopter strikes come after a day of escalation on the Lebanese front: earlier, an Israeli Merkava tank fired four shells at the town of Haddatha in the Bint Jbeil district, causing a fire, while the Israeli army claimed it had struck Hezbollah “infrastructure” in several areas, following the launch of a Hezbollah “explosive” drone at Israeli forces overnight, according to Al Jazeera.

The escalation in southern Lebanon is unfolding in parallel with the US–Israel–Iran war, which has been going on for months. Hezbollah, backed by Iran, is part of Tehran’s “axis of resistance” in the region, and Israeli strikes on its positions have intensified since the start of the conflict.

So far there are no immediate reports of casualties from the strikes on the commercial center, according to early information.