Israel kills more people in southern Lebanon; Hezbollah continues its attacks

SOUTH LEBANON — Relentless Israeli strikes hit southern Lebanon overnight into Sunday, with at least 81 attacks carried out by warplanes and drones, as Hezbollah said it launched 22 attacks against Israeli troops in occupied Lebanese territory and norther Israel.

According to the latest figures from Lebanon’s Health Ministry, 2,846 people have been killed since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2 as a result of Israeli strikes and attacks. Since Friday evening alone, 87 people have been killed, while the number of wounded rose by 181 over two days to 8,693. A day earlier, an Israeli strike had hit the Chouf region.

In an updated toll from the Israeli strike on Bedias (Sour district), at least one person was killed and 13 others wounded, including six children and two women, the ministry added. It also confirmed that Israeli killed two paramedics from the Islamic Health Committee, affiliated with Hezbollah, in a deliberate attack on their convoy in Tebnin and Qalawieh.

The Lebanese Red Cross was eventually able to recover the body of a man killed in a drone strike near his farm on the road linking Mayfadoun and Nabatieh al-Fawqa at around 3 p.m., after repeated delays caused by the Israeli army denying paramedics access to the area. Shortly before 5 p.m., rescue teams also reached a car destroyed in an Israeli strike on the Mayfadoun-Zawtar road in the Nabatieh district and recovered the bodies of a displaced Syrian family — a father, mother and two children — after waiting nine days for authorization to approach the vehicle.

Israel also killed Ali Waheb Moustafa, a 27-year-old special needs man from Beit Lif, while riding a two-wheeler on the Naqoura road. He had reached the area after crossing a Lebanese Army checkpoint in the al-Amiriya region in the Sour district.

The bombardments continued as funerals for the victims of Saksakieh were held near Saida, and drones extensively flew over several regions of the country, including above Beirut and its surroundings.

Zamir: 'No cease-fire'

The chief of staff of the Israeli army, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said meanwhile that "no objective of disarming Hezbollah has been assigned to his soldiers," but only missions of "defense against anti-tank missiles and infiltrations, as well as creating conditions allowing the Lebanese government to dismantle Hezbollah." He added that there was "no cease-fire" in Lebanon, and that the Israeli army had an "urgent" need for additional soldiers.

Israeli army Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee, for his part, cynically staged himself in a video posted on his X account, showing footage of Israeli strikes. At 6 p.m., he issued an evacuation order for three new villages, including one in the Jezzine district far from the border area, namely Sojod. The other two are Deir Zahrani and Jarjou (Nabatieh district).

Wave of bombardments

In the Bint Jbeil district, houses in Safad al-Battikh and Shaqra were bombed at dawn, while a large detonation caused by the Israeli army were reported in the city of Bint Jbeil. Around noon Sunday, the Israeli army bombed a gas station in Burj Qalaway. It caused a major explosion in Rshaf on Saturday evening.

In the Sour district, a person was injured in an Israeli drone strike on an orchard in Deir Qanoun Ras al-Ain, and five others were wounded in a strike on Ramadieh and another on Shaaitieh. Additionally, an Israeli strike on the Sammahieh road in Tayr Harfa killed one person.

Rescuers from the al-Rissala Rescue Association and the Islamic Health Committee recovered the body of a victim and rescued two wounded. Later, Israeli artillery bombarded Srifa with four shells, setting olive fields on fire. The village was bombed again at the end of the afternoon. Businesses near the new al-Rissala rescue association site caught fire and Civil Defense intervened to extinguish the blaze. Debaal was also hit by an Israeli strike.

In the Marjayoun district, the Israeli air force bombed Debbin, Majdal Selm and Blat. In Nabatieh district, a drone fired at a house in Zefta, while another targeted the vicinity of the old al-Sabah high school in the city of Nabatieh, injuring at least one person.

Artillery fire also shelled Nabatieh and Kfar Roummane. The Israeli attack hit the power station at the roundabout in Kfar Roummane a fire broke out there. Yohmor Shaqif was also struck by artillery fire.

In Jezzin district, a house in Qatrani was bombed early in the afternoon, leaving at least one person dead. Finally, in the Saida district, an evacuation notice was sent to a displaced family living in a house in Zein Alloul, in the Ain Dalieh neighborhood in the village of Saksakieh, followed by an evacuation notice for the entire neighborhood, which the municipality reportedly received. The Israeli army threatened to cut off the road leading to the village.

Attacks on Khiam

Between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, Hezbollah released several statements detailing its various attacks against the Israeli army, four of which were carried out Saturday and one on Sunday.

On Saturday, it claimed to have fired at Israeli soldiers in Khiam (at 1 p.m.), in Khallet al-Rajh (at 4 p.m.), and to have hit a Merkava tank in al-Bayyada (at 5 p.m.). Hezbollah added that it had struck Israeli soldiers at a helipad in Shlomi, in northern Israel. On Sunday, an Israeli excavator was hit in Deir Siryan, before the party announced it had successfully launched two exploding drones at an Israeli command headquarters in Khiam.

In the afternoon, Hezbollah claimed to have hit another excavator in the Bint Jbeil valley and launched two attacks against Israeli soldiers in Deir Seryan and then in Rshaf (between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.).

For its part, the Israeli army announced it had intercepted at least three objects, including two drones, heading toward its soldiers Sunday morning. Warning sirens also rang out in Bar'am, in northern Israel, after a rocket strike that apparently landed in an uninhabited area.