Israeli strikes kill 7 rescue workers near Sour in south Lebanon

BEIRUT — Israeli attacks on south Lebanon killed seven rescue workers on Thursday into Friday night, according to our correspondent. Three of them were struck while they were heading to the site of a previous strike on Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, while four others were killed in nighttime strikes on Hanouiyeh, in the Sour district.

On Friday morning, Israeli drone strikes killed three members of the Islamic Mission Scouts Association (Rissala, affiliated with the Amal Movement) in Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, and wounded four other people.

The three victims were identified as Ali Abboud, Hussein Kassir, and Ahmad Hariri. Hariri was a freelance photographer volunteering with the al-Rissala association, who had taken part earlier this week in operations to recover the bodies of victims of an Israeli massacre in the locality, when 14 people, including 11 from the same family and four children, were killed in a strike. This double strike on Deir Qanoun al-Nahr took place as several other drone attacks were carried out by Israel over the past few hours, including on Nabatieh city and an area between Ansar and Zrarieh.

The drone strike also killed two Syrian nationals, including a young girl, as well as the village barber, Ali Allameh, who local sources say had been offering free haircuts and shaves to residents who refused to leave the town.

Two killed in drone strikes on Tibnin and Nabatieh

On Thursday night into Friday, Israeli warplanes bombed two Islamic Health Committee (CSI) centers, affiliated with Hezbollah, in Hanouiyeh, killing four rescue workers and wounding two others. The seven new casualties among rescue organizations now bring the number of healthcare personnel killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since March 2 — the date Hezbollah entered the regional conflict alongside Iran — to 123.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry has said that “less than two days after Lebanon secured, by a qualified majority at the World Health Assembly, a resolution aimed at protecting medical personnel in Lebanon, the Israeli enemy continued its blatant violation of international resolutions” by targeting “unarmed rescue workers with significant military force.”

The strikes on CSI centers came as several other deadly Israeli drone attacks were later carried out in the early afternoon, notably against a motorcycle in Tibnin (Bint Jbeil district) and a pickup truck driving through the Nabatieh souks, killing two people and wounding two others.

'Armed individuals' killed by Israel near the border

The Israeli army also said in a post on X early Friday morning that it had “struck and eliminated” in an airstrike two “armed individuals moving suspiciously in southern Lebanon a few hundred meters from Israeli territory.” Israeli soldiers “conducted a sweep operation and found no trace of additional suspects in the area,” according to the Israeli military, which occupies a more than 600 square kilometer “buffer zone” inside Lebanese territory along the border.

According to reports by Israel’s Channel 11, the two men were spotted around 3 a.m. near the border village of Yaroun, in the Bint Jbeil district (central sector), located within the “buffer zone.” Fearing an “infiltration” into Israeli territory, an alert was issued before two fighter jet strikes were launched. The two bodies were later located, and an investigation is underway to determine their identities, according to Israeli media. Meanwhile, Maariv, citing a military source, reported that the two suspects “were planning to carry out an attack in an Israeli settlement” and were armed with Kalashnikov rifles, dozens of rounds of ammunition and tear gas grenades.

Separately, Israeli army drones carried out a series of strikes across the region on Friday, consecutively targeting an area between Ansar and Zrarieh (Saida district), the city of Nabatieh and — twice — the main road in Deir Qanoun al-Nahr.

Israel also fired a missile at Harouf, in the Nabatieh district.

Israeli warplanes conducted several bombardments in the Sour district, targeting Qleileh, Debaal, Zibqine and Hanouiyeh, as well as a building in the “Fawaz” complex in Jwayya. Israeli artillery shelling also struck Siddiqine. In the Marjayoun district, another Israeli strike targeted Touline. The night was also marked by three explosions heard in Khiam (Marjayoun district), an airstrike on Kafra, as well as two more strikes and artillery shelling on Yater (Bint Jbeil district).

Despite a nominal cease-fire that took effect on April 17, Israel continued its bombardment of south Lebanon, where it says it is fighting the pro-Iranian group. Since the start of the conflict and up to May 21, the Health Ministry has reported 3,089 killed and 9,397 wounded in the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

For its part, Israel has announced the deaths of 22 soldiers.

The intensity of Israeli bombardments on Thursday has eased slightly compared to recent weeks. Still, fighter jets bombed 10 villages, as drones carried out three strikes and 14 localities were shelled by artillery. Hezbollah, for its part, claimed 16 attacks on Israeli military targets in south Lebanon and northern Israel.