At least 16 killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon

By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least 16 people were killed and many others injured on Thursday in Israeli airstrikes targeting several areas in Lebanon, Lebanese sources including civil defense and state media said.

Two people were killed and four others injured in an Israeli airstrike that hit a two-story house in the town of Moaisra in Kesrouane district, Mount Lebanon province in eastern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s official news agency NNA.

In southern Lebanon, two people lost their lives when a drone targeted a passenger bus in the town of Kounine in Bint Jbeil district, Nabatieh province.

Meanwhile, a series of airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut caused the complete collapse of a building in the Moawad neighborhood.

Other strikes targeted areas in Haret Hreik, Burj al-Barajneh, the American, and Ghobeiryin Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The civil defense service said three people were killed in an airstrike in the town of Arnoun.

The Health Ministry said at least nine people were killed and 14 others injured in overnight airstrikes on an apartment in the Bachoura area of central Beirut. The air raid caused heavy damage to the surrounding buildings and cars in the targeted area.

The Israeli army also carried out several airstrikes on neighborhoods in the southern suburb of Beirut, leaving behind a huge plume of smoke.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said the army carried out "precise" strikes on Beirut.

The army said it launched airstrikes in several areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, including a raid on the city of Hermel in the east.

Attacks also targeted the city of Tyre, and Bint Jbeil, Aabbasiyyeh, and Toura towns.

While cross-border warfare between Hezbollah and Israel began after the Gaza conflict last October, Israel launched heavy airstrikes on Sept. 23 on what it called Hezbollah targets acorss Lebanon. Besides assassinating Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several other commanders, Israel has killed more than 1,100 people and displaced tens of thousands of others.