Security source says Israel strike hit Hezbollah missile truck near Baalbek

A Lebanese security source said Wednesday that an Israeli air strike hit a lorry loaded with Hezbollah missiles overnight, days after a major flare-up between the regional foes.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military did not immediately comment.

"The Israeli air force targeted two Hezbollah lorries" some 10 kilometers from Baalbek, a stronghold of Hezbollah in eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese security source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"One of the vehicles was hit and a series of explosions were heard in the area."

One person was wounded in the strike, the health ministry said.

A source close to Hezbollah confirmed the hit and said "the munitions which were inside the lorry caught fire".

Israel has repeatedly targeted truck convoys in eastern Lebanon that it suspects of delivering weapons to Hezbollah from neighboring Syria.

In the latest flare-up between Israel and Hezbollah, the Lebanese group on Sunday launched rockets and drones in retaliation for a top commander's killing as Israel carried out air raids the military said thwarted a larger attack.

Intense diplomacy had sought to head off a broader retaliation for the late July killings of senior Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in an Israeli strike on Beirut, and of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Israel later revoked a state of emergency declared early on Sunday, and Hezbollah said its operation was "completed".

Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire with the Israeli army since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’ surprise attack into Israel on Oct. 7.

More than 500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli strikes since Oct. 8, most of them fighters with Hezbollah and other armed groups but also more than 100 civilians. In northern Israel, 23 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed by strikes from Lebanon. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the tense border.

Israel has vowed to bring quiet to the border to allow its citizens to return to their homes. It says it prefers to resolve the issue diplomatically through U.S. and other mediators but will use force if necessary. Hezbollah officials have said the group does not seek a wider war but is prepared for one.