Lebanon Health Ministry Says Separate Israeli Strikes on South Kill Several on Sunday

New Israeli strikes on Lebanon - REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
New Israeli strikes on Lebanon - REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
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Lebanon Health Ministry Says Separate Israeli Strikes on South Kill Several on Sunday

New Israeli strikes on Lebanon - REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
New Israeli strikes on Lebanon - REUTERS/Karamallah Daher

Lebanon's health ministry said three people were killed in separate Israeli strikes on south Lebanon on Sunday, as Israel said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

In separate statements, the health ministry said one person was killed in "Israel enemy" strikes in three different south Lebanon villages.

Hezbollah on Sunday announced two fighters had been killed, without specifying where they died.

The Iran-backed group said it launched "explosive laden drones" towards two troop positions in northern Israel "in response to the enemy attacks" on south Lebanon.

Early Sunday, it said it fired dozens of rockets at military production facilities and an air base near the north Israel city of Haifa.

The Israel military said a barrage of rockets, cruise missiles and drones were launched overnight towards Israeli soil, mostly from Lebanon to the north.

Hezbollah has traded near daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in support of Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack triggered the Gaza war.

Tensions have spiked dramatically in recent days, with several dozen killed and thousands wounded in Lebanon when Hezbollah pagers and two-way radios exploded on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hezbollah has blamed Israel, which has not commented.

On Friday, an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs that targeted Hezbollah military commanders killed 45 people, the health ministry said.



Lebanese Mountain Village Mourns Dead in Israeli Airstrike

 Destroyed buildings are seen after being hit by Israeli airstrikes in the village of Qmatiyeh, southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP)
Destroyed buildings are seen after being hit by Israeli airstrikes in the village of Qmatiyeh, southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP)
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Lebanese Mountain Village Mourns Dead in Israeli Airstrike

 Destroyed buildings are seen after being hit by Israeli airstrikes in the village of Qmatiyeh, southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP)
Destroyed buildings are seen after being hit by Israeli airstrikes in the village of Qmatiyeh, southeast of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP)

A village in the mountains southeast of Beirut was in shock after an Israeli airstrike demolished a residential building and partly destroyed another, killing seven people, including three children.

Hadi Zahwe, a resident of the area, told reporters that the strike on Sunday was "terrifying."

"There were children killed, there were children’s body parts," he said. "This enemy is targeting civilian women and children."

Israel has carried out a widening aerial bombardment of many parts of southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs over the past two weeks, targeting what it said were Hezbollah fighters and weapons.

It was not clear what the intended target was in Sunday’s strike, which was the first one to hit the area.

Mahmoud Nasr Eldin, the town’s deputy mayor, said the village contains "no security or military centers."

"There’s nothing in Qmatiyeh that they’re looking for — it’s a safe area," he said. "We welcomed around 15,000 internally displaced people. They are our people, they ran away from their villages and came to get protection here."