1 killed and 11 wounded in intense Israeli strikes on south Lebanon

NABATIEH, Lebanon (AP) — Israel’s air force carried out intense airstrikes on mountains overlooking a southern city in Lebanon on Friday, in an attack that the Israeli military said targeted underground assets of the Hezbollah militant group.

Shortly afterward, an apartment building in the nearby city of Nabatieh was struck, killing one woman, wounding 11 and knocking out the building's top floor, according to Lebanon's state news agency.

The state-run National News Agency reported that the woman killed lived in Germany and had come back to Lebanon less than a month earlier to visit family. It wasn't immediately clear if she was a German citizen. The woman's apartment was hit by an Israeli drone strike, according to the report.

The Israeli army, in a statement posted on X, denied targeting a civilian building. The statement said the building was hit by a Hezbollah rocket that had been stored at another location that was targeted by an airstrike and “launched, and exploded as a result." It blamed Hezbollah for storing weapons near residential areas.

Since the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in November, Israel has carried out almost daily airstrikes on southern Lebanon. Friday’s strikes were more intense than usual.

“We are steadfast no matter how much you bomb us with your fighter jets and drones,” Hassan Ghandour, a Shiite cleric from Nabatieh, told The Associated Press at the scene of the building.

Lebanon's president and prime minister condemned the Israeli strikes on south Lebanon, saying they violated the ceasefire deal.

The airstrikes on the mountains overlooking Nabatieh came in two waves, and bunker busters were used, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported. NNA said that four people were slightly wounded in the airstrikes outside the city.

The Israeli military said in a statement that its fighter jets struck a site used by Hezbollah to manage its fire and defense array in the area and is part of a significant underground project that was completely taken out of use.

The Israeli army said that it identified rehabilitation attempts by Hezbollah beforehand and struck infrastructure sites in the area.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.

Hezbollah suffered significant losses on the battlefield during the war, which left more than 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused destruction amounting to $11 billion. In Israel, 127 people died, including 80 soldiers.

As part of the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah was pushed away from areas bordering Israel in south Lebanon and isn't allowed to have an armed presence south of the Litani River.

Friday’s airstrikes were north of the river.

Bassem Mroue contributed to this report from Beirut.

Lebanese army soldiers inspect a destroyed house that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Nabatieh town, south Lebanon, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

People gather next to a car that was damaged in an Israeli airstrike in Nabatieh town, south Lebanon, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

People seen through broken car window, as they gather in front of a destroyed building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Nabatieh town, south Lebanon, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A bulldozer clears rubble near a destroyed building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Nabatieh town, south Lebanon, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

A man checks his destroyed house that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Nabatieh town, south Lebanon, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)