Daijiworld Media Network – Beirut
Beirut, Jun 9: At least 14 people were killed and dozens injured in a series of Israeli air strikes across southern Lebanon on Monday, escalating tensions in the region despite recent efforts to maintain a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
The attacks came a day after Iran and Israel exchanged fire in their most serious confrontation since a ceasefire was announced on April 8. The latest flare-up followed an Israeli strike on Beirut on Sunday.
According to Lebanon's National News Agency, an Israeli air strike near a Red Cross centre in the coastal city of Tyre killed five people and injured eight others, including four paramedics. The bombardment also reportedly damaged a UNESCO World Heritage site in the city, prompting authorities to urge residents to avoid public gatherings.
In the Sidon district, an Israeli strike on al-Marwaniyah killed two people, including a child, and wounded ten others. Four women were among those injured.
Another strike on Zefta in the Nabatieh district claimed seven lives and left eight people injured. The victims included a Syrian child and a woman. Israeli artillery also shelled the nearby village of Touline.
The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it carried out 16 operations against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, including attacks near the strategic Beaufort Castle.
Hezbollah claimed it destroyed two Israeli military bulldozers near Yohmor al-Shaqif and targeted several Israeli troop positions. The group also said it intercepted an Israeli drone operating over the Iqlim al-Tuffah region.
Lebanon became directly involved in the wider regional conflict on March 2 after Hezbollah launched rockets into northern Israel, citing continued Israeli military operations and the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on February 28.
Iran, which supports Hezbollah, reiterated that any long-term peace arrangement with the United States must include an end to Israeli military operations in Lebanon.
While announcing a halt to its strikes against Israel on Monday, Iran's military warned that any continued aggression, including attacks in southern Lebanon, would be met with what it described as "much more severe and crushing measures."
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz dismissed the warning and vowed to continue military operations against Hezbollah. He also threatened strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs in response to any attacks on northern Israel.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Israel had conducted nearly 3,500 air strikes, 407 demolition operations and six large-scale village-razing operations since April 16.
According to Lebanon's Ministry of Health, the death toll from the Israeli offensive since March 2 has risen to 3,637, while 11,188 people have been injured.
The conflict has displaced more than one million people, representing nearly one-fifth of Lebanon's population. Salam's office said government shelters in Beirut, Sidon and other regions had reached maximum capacity.
Humanitarian organisations have also raised alarm over worsening conditions. The International Rescue Committee reported that 94 per cent of displaced people were struggling to meet their basic needs.
Rick Bartoldus, the IRC's country director in Lebanon, said many residents returning to southern Lebanon were finding their homes and entire villages destroyed.
He warned that humanitarian needs remained enormous and stressed that a lasting ceasefire was essential for any meaningful recovery in the country.