The number of victims rose on Tuesday as Israeli attacks persisted across Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes killed 29 people across the country, among them many who had been displaced by the intensified conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
The attacks targeted not only known Hezbollah strongholds such as the southern suburbs of Beirut, but also areas where the Iran-backed group has not traditionally had a presence. The Ministry of Public Health said a strike on Joun, in the Chouf district, killed 12 people and wounded eight."
The official National News Agency (NNA) said the building had housed displaced people fleeing bombardment by Israel in its war against Hezbollah.
For the first time since the start of the war, Israeli fighter jets bombarded a house between the towns of Baaleshmey and Dhour al-Abadiyeh on the international road in the district of Aley. The toll of the raid is eight dead and two injured, according to the Ministry. A security source told AFP the attack had hit a house where people displaced in the war had taken refuge.
Another attack on the town of Burj al-Shemali, a town close to Tyre, resulted in the death of one person.
Five people were also killed in an Israeli raid on the town of Taffahta, in the caza of Saida, and 12 others in an Israeli strike on the town of Saksakiye in southern Lebanon.
Israel also bombed a home in the town of Dabaal, destroying it and causing casualties and injuries.
Furthermore, two bodies were recovered from beneath the debris following an Israeli attack on a building in the town of Kfar Remen in Nabatiyeh on Monday night.
In the northern Beqaa city of Hermel, one person was killed and four were injured in an Israeli attack on a home.
The Israeli Army stepped up its air assault earlier on Tuesday by hitting structures in the southern suburb of Beirut. At least 14 raids were carried out, levelling four buildings in the area, following evacuation instructions to locals.
With maps showing structures designated for attack, military spokesman Avichay Adraee had issued a warning about upcoming strikes on installations connected to Hezbollah.
The sudden escalation sparked fear in the densely populated suburbs, with bullets fired in the air as a warning to residents to evacuate.
As strikes became more frequent, some school administrators in Beirut and in the vicinity of the southern suburbs suspended classes and sent students home.
Hours after the raid, Avichay Adraee announced on his X account that the Israeli Army had destroyed “most of the missile production and weapons storage facilities that Hezbollah had established beneath the southern suburb of Beirut.” He added that “during the past ten years, Hezbollah had established dozens of these structures, where hundreds of missiles were produced and hidden,” and that the Israeli Army is “determined to dismantle these structures.”
Adraee announced later that the Israeli Chief of Staff, General Hertsy Halevy, had assessed the situation on the ground during a field visit in southern Lebanon, where he held a meeting with the Galilee Division Commander, the Northern District Commander, and more officers, in what appears to be a civilian home. He did not say where the meeting was held, but quoted Helavy as saying that the Israeli Army had “eliminated a lot of leaders, fighters, and capabilities of Hezbollah, destroyed a lot of weapons, missiles, and missile launchers, and this is very important.”
The Israeli Army is acting “very aggressively,” according to Halevy, to stop weapons from getting to Hezbollah.
Earlier, the Israeli Army also called on residents of several villages across southern Lebanon to “evacuate immediately.” The bombardment began with intensive air raids, backed by shelling from warships on the towns Marwanieh, Zebqine, Chihine, and Alma al-Shaab, among others.
The campaign escalated across the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts. Two fatalities and numerous injuries were reported in Siddikin.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it fired missiles at an air base near Tel Aviv, following a wave of Israeli air strikes on the group's south Beirut bastion. Israel reported two people killed in the northern town of Nahariya by rocket fire from Lebanon.
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