Lebanon says Israel strikes near Beirut and across south

BEIRUT: Lebanon said an Israeli strike hit a target near Beirut on Wednesday while a medical source told AFP six people were killed as Israel pounded the country’s south.

The Israeli army, meanwhile, said it intercepted a “hostile aircraft” that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon, the first such infiltration reported by the military in more than 24 hours.

Hezbollah did not immediately claim any attack on northern Israel.

Israeli and Lebanese diplomats on Wednesday are set to hold a second day of direct talks in Washington — the fourth such round since war erupted on March 2.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported “the targeting of a car on the Khaldeh road”, referring to an area at the southern entrance to the capital.

An AFP correspondent at the scene saw an ambulance in attendance as onlookers peered at the strike site, which is on the main highway linking Beirut with the country’s south.

The NNA reported strikes on around 20 locations in the country’s south on Wednesday, while Israel’s army warned residents of several south Lebanon villages to evacuate ahead of attacks there.

A medical source in south Lebanon’s Tyre told AFP that two Israeli strikes on the Al-Hawsh area near the coastal city on Wednesday killed six people — four Syrian nationals and two Palestinians.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military released a statement alleging Hezbollah members were operating in Tyre’s Christian quarter, warning it would order people to leave should the group remain there.

Wednesday’s attacks come after a dramatic escalation in fighting and Israeli bombardment in recent days as Israeli troops staged their deepest ground offensive into Lebanon in two decades.