Israeli attacks in southern, eastern Lebanon kill at least 13 people
Israel also issues forced displacement orders for 12 villages in southern Lebanon.
Israeli air attacks on southern and eastern Lebanon have killed at least 13 people and wounded more than a dozen, in violation of a ceasefire brokered by the United States last month.
At least four people were killed and three others wounded in an Israeli air strike attack on the town of Zellaya in eastern Lebanon, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported on Wednesday.
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Ali Qassem Ahmad, the head of Zellaya’s municipal council, and three family members were killed in the attack on their home in the western Bekaa town, NNA said.
Israel also launched an attack on southern Lebanon using fighter jets and drones, while the village of Mayfadoun was shelled with artillery, resulting in two deaths, according to NNA.
In separate reports later in the day, the Lebanese news agency reported five more people were killed and 15 others wounded in an Israeli attack in Siksikiyah while two others were killed and one was wounded in the town of Khirbet Selm, both in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it had engaged Israeli forces, claiming responsibility for an attack targeting a gathering of Israeli soldiers.
Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands said Israeli air strikes hit parts of the Tyre district, while Lebanese armed group Hezbollah responded to Israeli attacks in several areas of southern Lebanon.
Israel also issued forced displacement orders for 12 villages in southern Lebanon, warning residents to remain at least one kilometre away from their homes. Most of the villages affected were in the north of the Litani River — an area not currently under Israeli military occupation. Israel said it was responding to a violation of the ceasefire by Hezbollah, but provided no credible evidence to support its claim.
The Israeli military has continued to expand its operations in southern Lebanon, with the latest forced displacement order including western parts of the Bekaa Valley for the first time since the truce came into effect on April 17.
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah renewed on March 2 after the Iran-backed group fired rockets at its southern neighbour, following the US and Israel’s launch of a war against Iran.
Since then, Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed about 2,700 people and displaced more than 1.2 million.
Israeli forces have also destroyed entire villages in southern Lebanon, prompting comparisons with the devastation caused by Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza.
