Israeli bombing and artillery attacks on Nabatieh city and surrounding towns in southern Lebanon killed at least 24 people and wounded several others early Friday, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Despite a US-Iran deal coming into force that also envisages an end to Israeli attacks on Lebanon, Israeli strikes after midnight targeted inhabited homes in the towns of Al-Sharqiyah, Harouf and Kfar Sir in Nabatieh district, causing a number of casualties and leaving some people missing, the agency reported.
Around 2:10 am (2100GMT), Israeli warplanes launched a series of strikes on Nabatieh city, Kfar Tebnit, Nabatieh al-Fawqa and the Rayhan heights, the agency said.
Around 3 am (2200GMT), air strikes hit the Kfarjoz-Nabatieh area, the university neighbourhood in Nabatieh and the Al-Baydar neighbourhood in Harouf, killing eight people, according to NNA.
Another strike targeted the Al-Ashamiya area between Al-Sharqiyah and Doueir, destroying a house and killing four people, the agency reported.
In Kfar Sir, an Israeli strike killed three people, according to the report.
Around 5 am (0200GMT), an Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle near the Doueir municipality building, killing one person and wounding another, the agency said.
Separately, an Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle on the Deir al-Zahrani-Nabatieh highway, killing one person and wounding another, NNA reported.
The number of those killed in an Israeli air strike on a residential building in a neighbourhood in Doueir rose to seven, the agency said.
Meanwhile, a large wave of displacement is under way from southern Lebanon’s Tyre and Bint Jbeil towards Sidon and Beirut after the deadlyi strikes, according to the Lebanese news agency.
Killed Israeli soldiers
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Friday called for intensified attacks in Lebanon after the Israeli army said four soldiers were killed in fighting in the south.
In a post on X, Ben-Gvir said Israel should respond forcefully despite international pressure.
“With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not forfeit. All of Lebanon must burn,” he wrote.
“Our supreme duty is to protect the citizens of Israel and the soldiers of the IDF (army), and this commitment takes precedence over every other consideration,” he added.
Ben-Gvir noted he had conveyed his position directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I told the Prime Minister, even in our private meetings: For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep.”
Calling for a harsher attack, the far-right minister added that in the Middle East it was necessary to “go berserk. To obliterate. To crush the terror.”
The remarks came after the Israeli military announced that four soldiers had been killed during fighting in southern Lebanon.
Israel has been bombarding Lebanon since March 2, killing 3,912 people, wounding 11,873 others and displacing more than 1 million, according to the latest official figures.
Israel continues to occupy areas in southern Lebanon, some for decades and others since the latest aggression. Israeli forces have advanced more than 10 kilometres into Lebanese territory during their recent invasion.
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