Beirut, Oct 21 (IANS): Six people were killed and eight others injured on Monday in an Israeli drone attack on a house in eastern Lebanon's city of Baalbek, according to official Lebanese sources.

An Israeli drone raided the house in the Nabi Inaam neighbourhood of central Baalbek, Lebanon's official National News Agency said, adding women and children were among the dead, Xinhua news agency reported.

Civil Defence teams retrieved the bodies, while the Lebanese Red Cross transferred the casualties to nearby hospitals, it said.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said Monday in a statement that it had downed an Israeli Hermes-900 drone on Sunday evening during an exchange of shelling with the Israeli army in southern Lebanon. The group noted that this was the ninth drone it had shot down in southern and eastern Lebanon since October 8, 2023.

In separate statements, Hezbollah said that it had launched rocket salvos on Monday targeting Israeli forces in the area of Khallet Wardeh, opposite the Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab and in the village of Maroun al-Ras, and an Israeli artillery position in Israel's moshav of Beit Hillel.

Since September 23, the Israeli army has intensified its airstrikes on Lebanon, marking a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah. Israel has also conducted what it said was a "limited" ground operation across the border, claiming it was aimed at crippling Hezbollah's capabilities.