JERUSALEM, Oct 9, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Israeli emergency responders said two people were killed Wednesday in a rocket attack on the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, as the army and Lebanon's Hezbollah exchanged fire along the border.

"We found a man and a woman aged around 40 years old, unconscious and injured by shrapnel," said emergency service provider Magen David Adom in a statement.

"We carried out medical examinations, but their injuries were serious and we had to declare them dead on the spot."

The incident is the first involving civilian deaths since Israel sent ground troops into southern Lebanon and began targeting Hezbollah positions with regular air strikes on Beirut.

Kiryat Shmona has been declared a closed military zone because of its proximity to the Lebanese border, and is a frequent target of Hezbollah rocket salvos. 

The Israeli military said approximately 20 projectile launches were identified crossing from Lebanon after air raid sirens were activated in Kiryat Shmona.

Israel expanded operations in Lebanon nearly a year after Hezbollah began cross-border fire in support of its ally, Hamas, following the Palestinian group's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

While battling Hamas in Gaza, Israel has vowed to secure its northern border with Lebanon to allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by Hezbollah fire to return home.