Agencies | Dubai:
At least 19 people, including four women and three children, were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon on Tuesday, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, marking another deadly escalation despite a fragile US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The latest round of hostilities began on March 2 after Hezbollah launched rockets toward Israel, two days after the United States and Israel carried out strikes on Iran.
According to Lebanese authorities, the deadliest attack targeted the village of Deir Qanoun al Nahr in the Tyre province, where 10 people, including three women and three children, lost their lives. Three others, including a child, were injured in the strike.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that the airstrike destroyed a residential house, leaving several people trapped beneath the rubble. Rescue teams later recovered the bodies from the debris.
In a separate strike on the southern city of Nabatieh, four people were killed and 10 others wounded, including two women. Another Israeli strike on the nearby village of Kfar Sir claimed five more lives, including that of a woman.
The fresh attacks came a day after the death toll in the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict crossed 3,000 and just two days after the ceasefire, originally brokered by the United States and in effect since April 17, was extended by another 45 days.
Israel has continued military operations in southern Lebanon and carried out repeated airstrikes in Beirut and other regions, stating that the targets are Hezbollah infrastructure and militant positions.
Hezbollah, which functions both as an armed militant group and a major political force in Lebanon, has resisted growing calls from the Lebanese government and international actors to disarm.
The conflict has displaced more than one million people across Lebanon, with many families taking shelter in temporary camps and roadside tents in Beirut and coastal areas along the Mediterranean.
Meanwhile, Israel has also faced persistent drone attacks launched by Hezbollah targeting Israeli troops stationed in southern Lebanon and towns near the northern Israeli border.
The Israeli military on Tuesday confirmed that one of its soldiers was killed during fighting in southern Lebanon, taking the number of Israeli troop fatalities to 21 since the latest conflict erupted.
