Beirut, Sep 11 (IANS): Hezbollah said Wednesday that one of its members was killed in intensive Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon earlier in the day.

In a mourning statement, the Shiite group identified the slain fighter as Hani Hussein Ezzedine but provided no details about the circumstances of his death.

According to Lebanese military sources, who spoke anonymously, the Israeli raids also wounded three civilians, all of whom had been transferred to a hospital in the city of Tyre.

The sources told Xinhua news agency that Israeli warplanes launched around 30 raids at dawn on Wednesday, targeting open areas deep in southern Lebanon and nine towns and villages along the southern border.

They said Israeli warplanes fired around 75 air-to-ground missiles on the villages of Zebqine, Majdel Zoun and Tayr Harfa, and the towns of Al-Dhahira and Qleileh in the western sector of the border area in southern Lebanon.

"The raids also targeted the villages of Khiam, Kafr Kila, and Mays al-Jabal in the eastern sector and the village of Aita al-Shaab in the central sector," they added.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border have escalated since Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' sudden attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by pounding southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah builds a large number of weapons caches, tunnels, and bunkers, with heavy artillery.