2 Australians killed in Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, says Australia’s acting foreign minister

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Acting Foreign Minister Mark Dreyfus says two Australian citizens including an alleged Hezbollah fighter have been killed by an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon. Ibrahim Bazzi and his brother Ali Bazzi were killed in the airstrike on Tuesday night in the town of Bint Jbel in southern Lebanon. Ibrahim Bazzi had arrived in Lebanon recently from Sydney to accompany his Lebanese wife Shorouq Hammoud to Australia. She was also killed in the attack. The three coffins were draped in the flag of Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian Islamist faction Hamas, which is at war with Israel. Dreyfus said on Thursday Australia is investigating Hezbollah’s claim that Ali Bazzi was one of its fighters.