UPDATE - 6 killed, 11 injured in Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon

CHANGES HEADLINE, LEDE; UPDATES TOLL AND ADDS DETAILS

By Rasa Evrensel

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least six people were killed and 11 others injured on Saturday as Israeli airstrikes targeted various locations across Lebanon.

According to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA), one person was killed and two others injured in an attack on a residential apartment in the town of Shatoura, Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon.

In a series of statements, the Health Ministry said two deaths occurred when an Israeli airstrike hit a vehicle in Jounieh, Kesrouan district of central Lebanon.

Three others were killed and another injured in a separate airstrike on the town of Zefta, southern Lebanon, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, in southern Lebanon, five people sustained injuries, including one critically, when an Israeli strike hit a building in Jal el Bahar, near the coastal city of Tyre, close to the Mashriq Medical Center.

Emergency responders from the Red Cross and civil defense teams rushed to the scene to transport the injured to nearby hospitals.

The NNA news agency said Israeli aerial assaults, including both warplanes and drones, persisted around Tyre and surrounding villages from late Friday night into Saturday morning.

Another three people were injured in Israeli airstrikes on the town of Khraibeh in the south.

Israeli airstrikes also targeted a building along the Zefta highway in the Nabatiyeh province, leading to its destruction, as well as attacks on several southern towns, including Abba, Khiam, and Kfar Kila.

While cross-border warfare between Israeli forces and Hezbollah continued since the Gaza war last October, Israel escalated its offensive in Lebanon late last month, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and many other commanders.

The extensive airstrikes, followed by a ground invasion, have claimed more than 1,500 lives and displaced around 1.3 million people.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi