The country’s Ministry of Health reported that at least three people were killed in an Israeli airstrike against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The ministry said on Sunday that one person was killed in a drone attack on a car in the southern city of Khiyam in Lebanon.

In a separate statement from the ministry, two people were killed in an Israeli attack on the village of Tiri.

However, no further information was given about the deceased persons.

A fighter of Shia Amal, an ally of Hezbollah, has been reported killed. The organization said the deceased was identified as Ayman Kamal Idris. He was performing national and jihadi duties. It is not known whether Kamal is among the three persons who were killed by the Ministry of Health.

Today there was a counter-attack between Israel and Hezbollah. In a statement, Hezbollah said that they fired a large number of missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killing of the commander of the armed organization, Fouad Shokar, at the end of July. With this, the ‘first phase’ of the attack has been completed.

The statement also said that Hezbollah fired more than 320 rockets targeting 11 Israeli military bases and barracks. Among them, there are four military installations in the occupied Golan Heights, including the Meron base. Before this morning, the Israeli forces carried out massive air strikes in the southern part of Lebanon. Israel says it launched the preemptive strike after receiving information that Hezbollah was preparing to attack.

Al-Jazeera’s correspondent Zeina Khodr from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, said most of Israel’s attacks targeted border areas. The attack took place within 5 km of the 120 km border.

After the retaliatory attack, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant announced a state of emergency in the country for the next 48 hours, according to the country’s press.

Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport was temporarily closed. According to Al-Jazeera, Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority announced the opening of the main international airport a few hours later.