Israel Strikes South Lebanon Ahead of Nasrallah Funeral

People hold pictures of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in Israeli airstrikes last year, as they walk together to attend his public funeral ceremony in Beirut, Lebanon February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
People hold pictures of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in Israeli airstrikes last year, as they walk together to attend his public funeral ceremony in Beirut, Lebanon February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
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Israel Strikes South Lebanon Ahead of Nasrallah Funeral

People hold pictures of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in Israeli airstrikes last year, as they walk together to attend his public funeral ceremony in Beirut, Lebanon February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
People hold pictures of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in Israeli airstrikes last year, as they walk together to attend his public funeral ceremony in Beirut, Lebanon February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Lebanese state media reported Israeli strikes Sunday about 10 kilometers from the southern border as mourners converged in Beirut for the massive funeral of the group's slain leader Hassan Nasrallah.

"Hostile aircraft launched two raids targeting the area between Qleileh and Sammaaiyah in the Tyre district," the official National News Agency said.

Israel's military said it struck rocket launchers in southern Lebanon which it said threatened civilians

"A short while ago, the IDF (military) conducted a precise intelligence-based strike on a military site containing rocket launchers and weapons in Lebanese territory, in which Hezbollah activity was identified," a military statement said. "Additionally, several rocket launchers that posed an imminent threat to Israeli civilians were struck in southern Lebanon."

Nasrallah was killed by Israel nearly five months ago in a huge strike on south Beirut, at the start of the all-out war.

An Israeli military statement on Saturday said Israeli forces "conducted a strike on border crossings on the Syria-Lebanon border through which the Hezbollah terrorist organization has attempted to smuggle weapons into Lebanon."

"These smuggling attempts are a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon," the statement said, referring to the November truce that ended more than a year of hostilities including two months of war.

Saturday's army statement said Israeli forces "will operate to prevent any attempt by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to rebuild its forces."



Bodies of Eight Red Crescent Medics Recovered in Gaza, One Still Missing

Members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces, during a funeral procession at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2025. (AFP)
Members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces, during a funeral procession at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2025. (AFP)
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Bodies of Eight Red Crescent Medics Recovered in Gaza, One Still Missing

Members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces, during a funeral procession at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2025. (AFP)
Members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces, during a funeral procession at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2025. (AFP)

The bodies of eight Palestine Red Crescent medics who came under fire in Gaza just over a week ago have been recovered, though a ninth worker is still unaccounted for, the Red Cross said.

In a statement late on Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was "appalled" at the deaths.

"Their bodies were identified today and have been recovered for dignified burial. These staff and volunteers were risking their own lives to provide support to others," it said.

The Palestine Red Crescent said it also recovered the bodies of six civil defense members and one UN employee from the same area. It said Israeli forces had targeted the workers. Red Cross statements did not apportion blame for the attacks.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said one worker from the nine-strong Red Crescent group was still unaccounted for. The group went missing on March 23.

The Israeli military said on Monday that an inquiry had found that on March 23, troops opened fire on a group of vehicles that included ambulances and fire trucks when the vehicles approached a position without prior coordination and without headlights or emergency signals.

It said several fighters belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups were killed.

"The Israeli army condemns the repeated use of civilian infrastructure by the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, including the use of medical facilities and ambulances for terrorist purposes," it said in a statement.

It did not comment directly on the deaths of the Red Cross workers.

The incident was the single most deadly attack on Red Cross Red Crescent workers anywhere since 2017, the IFRC said.

"I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians," said IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain.

"They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked," he added.

According to the United Nations, at least 1,060 healthcare workers have been killed in the 18 months since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

The global body is reducing its international staff in Gaza by a third due to staff safety concerns.