Israel kills at least 12, injures 78 in airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon

By Wassim Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) - At least 12 people were killed and 78 injured in a series of Israeli airstrikes across southern and eastern Lebanon on Wednesday, Lebanese health authorities said. The strikes targeted major towns, including Baalbek and Nabatieh, as well as several densely populated areas in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that an Israeli strike on the Baalbek-Riyaq highway killed two people and injured nine others. In a separate strike on a residence in the eastern town of Yammouneh, two more people were killed and 15 injured, according to Lebanon’s official news agency.

The Ministry of Health also updated casualty figures from Tuesday’s airstrikes on Qana in southern Lebanon, where three people were killed and 54 injured. Rescue teams are continuing to search the rubble in affected areas.

In Nabatieh, five people were killed when municipal buildings were struck by Israeli missiles. Seven additional airstrikes hit Nabatieh al-Tahta, targeting densely populated neighborhoods, with more casualties feared as rescue operations continue.

Israeli forces also resumed air raids on Beirut’s southern suburbs after a six-day pause, claiming to target Hezbollah weapons caches. Across southern Lebanon, Israeli jets struck towns including Hanine, Ayta ash Shab, and Qlaileh, causing extensive damage.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah reported an attack on an Israeli Merkava tank near Ramya, resulting in casualties, and claimed to have launched rockets at artillery positions in northern Israel, including areas near Safed and Yiftach.

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 in Istanbul