Israeli strikes on Palestinian camp in Lebanon cause scores of casualties

By Wassim Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) – Scores of casualties were reported in Israeli airstrikes on a Palestinian camp in southern Lebanon on Tuesday evening, Lebanese media said.

Israeli fighter jets carried out three airstrikes on a library in the Rashidieh refugee camp in Tyre, the state news agency NNA said.

NNA said the attacks caused a “massacre” in the camp with ambulances and residents transferring several dead and injured people after the attack.

The broadcaster, however, did not give an exact figure of the victims.

The attack came as Israel’s Security Cabinet convened on Tuesday evening to vote on a US-backed cease-fire proposal with Lebanon.

Israeli media reported early Monday that a cease-fire deal is expected to be announced between Israel and Hezbollah within two days.

Lebanese parliamentarian Qassem Hashem also said on Monday that a cease-fire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel is nearing completion and could be declared within the next 36 hours if negotiations proceed smoothly.

“The atmosphere is positive, and cease-fire discussions have reached an advanced stage. It’s only a matter of hours before an agreement is finalized and announced if progress continues as expected,” Hashem told Anadolu.

Israel has escalated its airstrikes in Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets as part of year-long warfare against the Lebanese group since the start of the Gaza war last year.

More than 3,760 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon, with nearly 15,700 injured and over a million displaced since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel on Oct. 1 this year expanded the conflict by launching a ground assault into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala