Family of 9 killed in Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) – An Israeli airstrike killed an entire family of nine people early Friday in southern Lebanon, according to media reports.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that “a family of nine was martyred at 3:00 a.m. in an enemy airstrike on a three-story house in Shebaa,” a town in southern Lebanon, the target of days of Israeli attacks.

At night, Israeli warplanes carried out a wide-ranging aerial attack, launching a series of intense airstrikes focused on the city of Nabatieh, according to the agency, which also reported injuries.

Israeli airstrikes on five provinces in the country on Thursday killed 92 people and injured 153 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Following deadly attacks last week using wireless devices, Israel has pounded Lebanon since Monday, killing at least 677 people and injuring over 2,500 others, according to figures released by the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed more than 41,500 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last October.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.

On Wednesday, the US, EU, and nine other nations urged Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah to agree to a 21-day cease-fire.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi