UPDATE – At least 16 killed in fresh Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon

UPDATES DEATH TOLL, ADDS DETAILS

Rania Abu Shamala and Stephanie Rady

ISTANBUL (AA) – At least 16 people were killed and dozens injured in fresh Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday, according to Lebanese authorities and media reports.

The Health Ministry said four people were killed and 38 others injured in Israeli airstrikes on the Baalbek-Hermel province in eastern Lebanon.

Five more people were killed and 27 others wounded in Israeli attacks in the towns of Tebnine and Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon, the ministry added in a statement.

Israeli warplanes also hit the southern town of Joun, killing four people and injuring several others, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Three more people lost their lives and nine others were injured in another airstrike in the town of Maaysrah in Keserwan in northeastern Lebanon, the broadcaster said.

It was the first time for Israeli warplanes to strike Keserwan since the outbreak of cross-border clashes with Hezbollah on Oct. 8 last year.

The area is inhabited by Shias, according to an Anadolu reporter.

The Israeli army said that it struck over 100 Hezbollah-linked targets in Lebanon since Wednesday morning.

Israel has launched waves of deadly airstrikes in Lebanon since Monday morning, killing nearly 570 people and injuring over 1,800 others, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed over 41,400 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.