At least 19 killed as Israel presses air offensive on southern Lebanon

By Anadolu staff
ANKARA (AA) – At least 19 people were killed in intensified Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday, local media said.
Three people lost their lives when Israeli fighter jets carried out two airstrikes in the border towns of Burji al-Shemali and Qaaqaait Al Jisr, the state news agency NNA reported.
Five more people were killed and several others injured in Israeli airstrikes in Tyre, the broadcaster said.
Two more strikes hit Marjeyoun, killing at least eight people, NNA said. Three people were also killed in another airstrike in the town of Bafliyeh.
Lebanese media also reported an Israeli strike on a mosque in the border town of Al-Dhahira, completely destroying it, marking a repeated occurrence of attacks on religious sites during the conflict.
Israeli forces also reportedly rigged several homes near a base of the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) in Al-Dhahira and detonated them.
The airstrikes were the latest in a massive air campaign launched by Israel last month on Lebanon in an escalation from year-long cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.
More than 2,650 people have been killed and over 12,300 others injured in Israeli attacks since last year, according to Lebanese health authorities.
Israel expanded the conflict this year by launching a ground assault into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi