ADDS NEWS OF AIRSTRIKES ON BEKAA VALLEY
By Yusuf Alioğlu and Batoul Fawa
BEIRUT (AA) - At least four people were killed and six others injured late Tuesday from Israeli airstrikes targeting the town of Al-Dhahirah in southern Lebanon, said the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Earlier, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli warplanes conducted two airstrikes on the town.
The agency noted that the strikes occurred just minutes apart, without providing details on the intended targets.
The identities of the victims have not yet been determined.
In a separate incident, the ministry said that one person was injured in an Israeli drone strike in the Wadi Hamoul area near the town of Naqoura.
When three medics attempted to assist the injured person, they were targeted by the Israeli military, resulting in moderate injuries to all three and significant damage to their ambulance. All four were transported to a hospital for treatment.
Additionally, an Israeli drone strike targeted the town of Houla late Tuesday, followed by three consecutive airstrikes by Israeli warplanes on the town of Ayta ash Shab, NNA said, without providing further details.
Later, an Anadolu correspondent reported that Israeli warplanes conducted a series of overnight airstrikes deep into Lebanese territory, targeting areas in Sahl Sarain, Nabi Sheet and Bodai in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, causing massive explosions.
However, details regarding the targets or the extent of human and material losses were not immediately available.
The airstrikes mark the second consecutive day of Israeli bombardment in the Bekaa Valley. On Monday, Israeli warplanes conducted airstrikes in the same region, injuring eight people, including six Lebanese citizens and two Syrian children, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The Israeli army also confirmed that earlier in the day, Israeli warplanes targeted a building in the Al-Matmoura area of southern Lebanon that Hezbollah operatives used as well as another Hezbollah military structure in the area.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it launched a series of drone attacks on the headquarters of the 7th Armored Brigade of the Golan Division 210 at the Katzavya barracks, targeting officers and soldiers stationed there.
The Lebanon-based group in a separate statement said its fighters used Katyusha rockets to target the Shomera and Mattat military barracks and their surrounding areas as well as heavy artillery to hit the Ramia site.
The group also targeted the Israeli Yara’a base in the north with Katyusha rockets. It said these operations were in response to the Israeli attack and assassination in Al-Dhahirah.
Fears of a full-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah have grown amid an exchange of cross-border attacks, especially after the July 30 assassination of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.
The escalation comes against the backdrop of a deadly Israeli onslaught on Gaza which has killed over 40,170 people since last October following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio