At Least 31 Killed in Israeli Attacks in Lebanon
It said 14 people were killed in Burj al-Shamali near Tyre, five in Kawthariyat al-Riz, four in Habbush, six in Maarakeh and two in Salaa.
A surge in Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon killed 31 people yesterday, Lebanon’s health ministry said, as Israel signaled it was stepping up its campaign despite a truce in the war with Hezbollah.
At the same time, Hezbollah said its fighters were confronting Israeli troops who had moved into the southern town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, while the Israeli military said it was widening its ground offensive.
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In a statement, the health ministry said 31 people were killed in the attacks and 40 wounded, among them at least four children and three women.
It said 14 people were killed in Burj al-Shamali near Tyre, five in Kawthariyat al-Riz, four in Habbush, six in Maarakeh and two in Salaa.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said one strike landed near a public hospital, inflicting “significant damage to the hospital’s departments”.
The Israeli military also issued evacuation warnings yesterday for at least 50 towns and villages in the south and east, including the city of Nabatieh.
Rubble and destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli attack on Tyre, Lebanon
An Israeli military official said troops had started operating beyond the Israel-declared “Yellow Line” in south Lebanon, an area stretching about 10km inside Lebanese territory.
As the offensive pushed farther into the south, Hezbollah said its fighters met Israeli troops attempting to move into a town overlooking Nabatieh city yesterday.
In a statement, the group said it drove back an Israeli force early yesterday after it advanced toward Zawtar al-Sharqiyah following airstrikes and intense artillery shelling.
Hezbollah said it had launched a series of drone and rocket attacks on Israeli forces in the town and that its fighters had engaged them directly.
In eastern Lebanon, the health ministry said “yesterday’s Israeli enemy airstrike on the town of Mashghara in West Bekaa resulted in a preliminary toll of 11 martyrs, including two girls and a woman, and 15 wounded, including a child”.
Rescue teams were still removing debris in the eastern town, the ministry said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) also reported multiple Israeli strikes across the south and east.
According to the health ministry, a strike on Srifa in the south killed a rescuer and wounded two others from the Risala Scouts association, which is linked to the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement, bringing the number of rescuers killed in the war to 121.
Since 2 March, when Hezbollah fired projectiles into Israel in response to the start of the Iran war, the cumulative toll from Israeli attacks has reached 3,213 dead and 9,737 wounded, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
The Israeli military said 10 of its soldiers had been killed since the 16 April ceasefire, six of them in Hezbollah explosive drone attacks.
The World Health Organization has said that at least 608 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli attacks since the truce.
