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Lebanon on Saturday raised the toll in Israeli strikes on the country\u2019s south and east overnight to four killed, with Israel saying it was responding to an attempted Hezbollah attack.<\/strong><\/p>\n Lebanon\u2019s health ministry reported four people killed including an 18-year-old woman, and 32 others wounded, including several women and children, in Israeli strikes on several locations on Friday, particularly in the Nabatieh region.<\/p>\n An Israeli army statement said its forces struck Hezbollah \u201cterrorists and infrastructure\u201d including \u201cweapon storage facilities\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe strikes were carried out in response to Hezbollah\u2019s attempted attack\u201d on Friday against Israeli troops in south Lebanon \u201cduring which a drone was launched toward the soldiers\u201d, it said, without reporting troop injuries.<\/p>\n The raids came after Israel said on Thursday that it had taken control of the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge near south Lebanon\u2019s Nabatieh.<\/p>\n Hezbollah, which has not claimed any attacks on Israeli targets for weeks, on Saturday condemned the strikes, in its first statement since Israel announced it had captured the Ali al-Taher ridge.<\/p>\n The statement did not mention Ali al-Taher or confirm Israel had taken the site.<\/p>\n In the town of Mayfadoun, an AFP photographer saw a few residents inspecting the latest destruction.<\/p>\n Ali Suliman, a relative of slain 18-year-old Maryam Salameh,\u00a0said her family had been displaced for six months by Israeli bombardment \u201cand returned only yesterday\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat targets were here? They are all civilians,\u201d he said, adding that Salameh had recently received a certificate of excellence at school, but now \u201cshe will receive a death certificate\u201d.<\/p>\n The strikes also came after the International Committee of the Red Cross on Friday facilitated the transfer to Lebanon of four people detained by Israel, a day after another person was freed.<\/p>\n Hezbollah called Israel\u2019s release of the five detainees this week \u201csignificant\u201d, but said the move \u201ccannot serve as a pretext for overlooking the continuation of aggression, occupation and killing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNor can it justify pursuing a course that has proven incapable of protecting Lebanon and its people,\u201d Hezbollah added, referring to Lebanon\u2019s direct negotiations with Israel.<\/p>\n Lebanon began the talks after Hezbollah drew the country into the Middle East war in March by attacking Israel, which responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people.<\/p>\n Israeli forces are operating inside a self-declared \u201csecurity zone\u201d around 10 kilometres (six miles) deep inside Lebanon along the border.<\/p>\n Violence has lessened since a US-Iran memorandum of understanding on the broader conflict in June and a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon later that month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n