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.



Gaza Rescuers Say Israeli Strike on Hospital Kills 7

Damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza, pictured on December 29 - AFP
Damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza, pictured on December 29 - AFP
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Gaza Rescuers Say Israeli Strike on Hospital Kills 7

Damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza, pictured on December 29 - AFP
Damage at the Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza, pictured on December 29 - AFP

Gaza's civil defense agency said an airstrike hit a hospital Sunday, killing at least seven people, while Israel said it had targeted militants at the no longer functioning facility.

"Seven martyrs and several injured people, including critical cases, have been recovered following the Israeli strike on the upper floor of Al-Wafaa Hospital in central Gaza City," a civil defense agency statement said.

Israel's military said it had carried out a "precise strike" targeting members of Hamas's aerial defense unit operating from a "command and control center in a building that served in the past as the Al-Wafaa hospital".

The health ministry in Gaza said the hospital was still in use.

"The Al-Wafaa Hospital is partially operational, providing care to patients with physical disabilities," the ministry's director general, Munir al-Barsh, told AFP.

"The hospital had been rehabilitated and was getting ready to receive patients. Had it not been targeted by Israeli shelling today, it would have been ready to fully reopen in the next few days," he said.

The strike on Al-Wafaa Hospital came a day after the military ended a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, an assault the World Health Organization reported left the facility empty of patients and staff.

The military also detained the hospital's chief, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, saying he was suspected of being a Hamas militant.

Since October 6, Israel's operations in the Palestinian territory have focused on northern Gaza, where it says its land and air offensive aims to prevent Hamas from regrouping.

However, the military has also carried out airstrikes and shelling in other areas of Gaza as it presses on with its campaign against the militants.