Israeli strikes kill 39 in Lebanon
Thirty-nine people have been killed in another day of intense Israeli strikes in Lebanon, the country’s health ministry said.
One Israeli strike on the southern town of Saksakiyeh killed at least seven people, including a child, the ministry said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had been targeting Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and was “aware of reports regarding harm to uninvolved civilians.”
Israeli forces and Hezbollah have continued to trade fire since US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire deal between the governments of Israel and Lebanon on April 16.
Most of Israel’s air strikes have hit southern Lebanon, with the military saying it is striking infrastructure and people linked to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political party.
On Saturday, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes across the south, including in Saksakiyeh.
The health ministry said that raid “resulted in an initial toll of seven martyrs, including a girl, and 15 wounded, including three children”.
The IDF said it struck “Hezbollah terrorists operating from within a structure used for military purposes” in the area.
“Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians as much as possible, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance,” it said.
Details of the incident are under review, it added.
The Lebanese health ministry reported that another Israeli strike on a motorbike in Nabatieh hit “a Syrian national and his 12-year-old daughter.”
“After they managed to move away from the site of the first strike, the drone attacked a second time,” killing the father, the ministry said, adding the drone then targeted the girl “directly for a third time.”
The girl was undergoing life-saving surgery, it added.
Meanwhile Hezbollah targeted northern Israel with a drone, which the Israeli military said wounded three soldiers. –BBC
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