BEIRUT, Lebanon: Israeli attacks across Lebanon killed at least 22 people in the past 24 hours, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Tuesday, as strikes continued despite a 45-day ceasefire extension.
The ministry said the latest casualties raised the overall death toll since fighting between Israel and Hezbollah resumed on March 2 to 3,042, up from 3,020 reported a day earlier.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that at least six people had been killed since dawn on Tuesday in Israeli strikes targeting several areas in southern Lebanon.
In the Nabatieh region, an Israeli warplane struck a house in the al-Mahfara neighbourhood of Kfar Sir, north of the Litani River, killing four people and wounding two others, according to National News Agency.
In a separate strike in the town of Harouf, an Israeli drone targeted a vehicle parked near the municipality building, killing one person and injuring a municipal council member.
The National News Agency reported that one of the injured was preparing to distribute bread to residents when the strike occurred.
Another Israeli drone strike hit a motorcycle in the town of Froun near Bint Jbeil, killing one person, the agency added.
Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon
The Israeli military on Tuesday launched a fresh wave of attacks across southern Lebanon while issuing evacuation warnings for residents of 12 towns and villages, despite the ongoing truce.
The warnings covered the towns of Toura, Nabatieh At-Tahta, Habbouch, Bazouriyeh, Tayr Debba, Kfar Houneh, Ain Qana, Libbaya, Jebchit, Chehabiyeh, Burj Shemali and Houmin al-Fawqa.
Lebanon’s National News Agency said Israeli strikes targeted several areas in the Tyre district and Nabatieh province.
In the town of Maashuq in Tyre district, an Israeli air strike caused the top two floors of a building to collapse, according to AFP. Nearby buildings and parked vehicles were also damaged.
A strike on the same town a day earlier destroyed a primary healthcare centre operated by the Islamic Health Committee, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.
The Israeli military later repeated its evacuation warning and separately announced that it had intercepted a drone launched from Lebanon.
Hezbollah claims attacks on Israeli positions
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it carried out several attacks against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and targeted Iron Dome positions in Jal Alam and Margaliot in northern Israel.
The Lebanese civil defence agency said it lost contact with seven people following an Israeli incursion into the southern town of Rashaya al-Fukhar.
According to the agency, Israeli forces later released four of the detainees, while three others remained “in Israeli captivity”.
In the Tyre district, NNA reported that Israeli forces fired three incendiary phosphorus bombs near farmers harvesting watermelons at the al-Mansouri junction. The farmers fled the area and no injuries were reported.
Israeli troops also established a checkpoint at the Mari-Halta junction, where three Lebanese nationals were detained and their mobile phones confiscated, NNA said.
