23 killed, 31 injured in Israeli airstrikes on southern, eastern Lebanon

By Yusuf Alioğlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least 23 people were killed and 31 injured late Tuesday in a series of violent airstrikes on several towns and regions in southern and eastern Lebanon, according to official figures.

Lebanon’s official news agency reported that the strikes in the south targeted the districts of Nabatieh, Bint Jbeil and Marjaayoun, as well as Tyre and Jezzine.

In eastern Lebanon, the airstrikes hit the districts of Zahle and West Bekaa.

- Airstrikes in south

In southern Lebanon, the airstrikes targeted the area between the towns of Jibchit and Aadchitin in the Nabatieh district, affecting the towns of Toul, Sir El Gharbiyeh, Braikeh, Qsaybeh, Kfar Jouz, Habbouch and Deir El Zahrani, where a three-story building was destroyed.

In the Bint Jbeil district, strikes targeted the towns of Safad El Battikh, Hanine, Ayta ash Shab, Kafra, At Tiri and Yater, as well as the area between the towns of Froun and Ghandouriyeh.

An airstrike on the town of Srebbine resulted in the deaths of five people, according to a statement from the Lebanese Health Ministry.

In the Marjaayoun district, fighter jets conducted strikes on the town of Khiam.

In the same district, an airstrike on the town of Touline resulted in the deaths of three people, according to the ministry.

In the Tyre district, Israeli warplanes killed 10 people and injured more than 15 in an airstrike on the town of Qana, as reported by the Lebanese news agency.

Israeli airstrikes in Tyre also affected the towns of Qasmiyeh, Ain Baal, Aaita El Jabal, Majdal Zoun, Mansouri and Mazraat Mechref.

Additionally, the outskirts of the towns of Biyyadah and Naqoura in Tyre were subjected to Israeli artillery fire.

In the Jezzine district, fighter jets struck the town of Mahmoudiyeh.

-Airstrikes in the east

In the Zahle district in eastern Lebanon, five people, including three children, were killed, and 16 were injured in a strike that targeted the town of Riyaq, according to a statement from the Health Ministry.

In the West Bekaa district, warplanes targeted a two-story building in the town of Sohmor with a missile that landed in the center of the structure without detonating.

Authorities immediately prevented residents from approaching the building until it could be inspected and the missile safely defused.

Israel has mounted a huge air campaign in Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing more than 1,500 people and displacing more than 1 million.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed nearly 42,400 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Israel expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio