Israeli strikes kill 31 in south Lebanon as Israel expands ground operations

Beirut: Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed 31 people on Tuesday, the Lebanese health ministry said, as Israel said it was intensifying attacks despite a truce in its war with Hezbollah.

The Iran-backed group meanwhile said it faced Israeli troops entering the southern town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, as the Israeli military said it was expanding its ground operations.

In a statement, the health ministry said 31 people, including at least four children and three women, were killed in attacks and 40 wounded.

Fourteen were killed in Burj al-Shamali near Tyre, five in Kawthariyat al-Riz, four in Habbush, six in Maarakeh and two in Salaa.

An AFP correspondent in the southern city of Nabatieh reported airstrikes following an unprecedented warning on the city and saw plumes of smoke rising from various locations within it.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said one of the strikes hit the vicinity of a public hospital, causing “significant damage to the hospital’s departments”.

The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for at least 50 southern and eastern towns and villages on Tuesday, including Nabatieh city.

An Israeli military official told AFP that troops had begun operating beyond the Israel-announced “Yellow Line” in south Lebanon, which runs around 10 kilometres (six miles) deep inside Lebanese territory.

As Israel’s operations moved deeper into south Lebanon, Hezbollah said its fighters confronted Israeli troops trying to advance into a town that overlooks Nabatieh city on Tuesday.

Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters repelled an Israeli force early Tuesday that had moved toward Zawtar al-Sharqiyah after airstrikes and heavy artillery fire.

The group claimed responsibility for a series of drone and rocket fires on Israeli forces in the town, and said it engaged directly with them.

In eastern Lebanon, the health ministry said “yesterday’s Israeli enemy airstrike on the town of Mashghara in West Bekaa resulted in a preliminary toll of 11 martyrs, including two girls and a woman, and 15 wounded, including a child”.

Rescuers were still clearing the rubble in the eastern town, the ministry added.

The Israeli military in a statement said it launched “several strikes… in the area of Mashghara” on “Hezbollah infrastructure sites”.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) also reported several Israeli strikes across the south and east.

A strike on Srifa in the south killed a rescuer and wounded two others from the Risala Scouts association, linked to the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement, according to the health ministry, raising the rescuer death toll in the war to 121.

– Drone attacks –

Several strikes also hit near Lebanon’s largest dam in the Litani river’s Qaraoun lake in the east.

The Litani River Authority issued a statement warning that “any direct or indirect targeting of the Qaraoun Dam or its facilities could lead to catastrophic risks for residents, infrastructure, and vital installations in the areas downstream”.

It called on authorities to “make the necessary contacts and take the necessary actions at the international and diplomatic levels to protect the Qaraoun Dam… from any attacks”.

Lebanon’s civil defence said one of its rescuers succumbed to his wounds after a double-tap strike on the town of Qaraoun, near the dam, as he was tending to a man hit by a previous attack.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had bombed more than 100 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon overnight.

The Iran-backed movement also claimed drone attacks on an Israeli army barracks in northern Israel on Tuesday.

The Israeli army on Tuesday said it “intercepted several explosive drones launched by the Hezbollah toward Israeli territory”.

Netanyahu on Tuesday said his country was intensifying operations in Lebanon.

“The (Israeli army) is operating with substantial forces on the ground and securing strategically dominant positions. We are reinforcing the security buffer zone in order to protect the communities of northern Israel,” he added.

UN secretary general spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Tuesday that on Monday UN peacekeepers in Lebanon detected “91 airspace violations, the highest number since the cessation of hostilities came into effect”.

“Also yesterday, Unifil reported 399 firing incidents attributed to the (Israeli army), and 11 trajectories of projectiles attributed to Hezbollah.”

Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a truce in its war with Hezbollah, saying it is targeting the group, while the latter has claimed several attacks on Israeli positions in southern Lebanon and Northern Israel.

Lebanese authorities say more than 3,100 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since March 2, when Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by attacking Israel in support of its backer Iran.