At least 40 people, including several children, have been killed in Israeli air strikes on Lebanon the previous day, Lebanese officials said on Saturday, after heavy Israeli bombardment of southern suburbs of the capital Beirut overnight.
Lebanon’s health ministry said at least seven people were killed in the coastal city of Tire late Friday. The Israeli military had previously ordered the evacuation of several parts of the city, but no order was published by an Israeli military spokesman on the social media platform X before Friday’s attacks.
The ministry said that two children were also among the dead. The ministry said rescue operations were ongoing and DNA testing would be conducted to identify other body parts recovered after the attack.
The health ministry said 13 people were killed in attacks in nearby towns on Saturday, including seven medics from rescue groups linked to Hezbollah and its ally Amal.
At least 20 more people were killed in Israeli attacks on Saturday in the eastern plains around the historic city of Baalbek, the health ministry said.
The Israeli military said it had struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the areas of Tire and Baalbek, including fighters, “operational apartments” and weapons stores.
Israeli strikes in Lebanon last year killed at least 3,136 people and injured 13,979, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. The dead included 619 women and 194 children.
Israel has been locked in a war with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah since October 2023, but fighting has escalated dramatically since late September this year. Israel has intensified and expanded its bombing campaign, and Hezbollah has increased daily rocket and drone attacks against Israel.
The Iran-backed group announced more than 20 operations on Saturday, also saying that the previous day fighters had taken action against a military factory south of Tel Aviv.
More than a dozen Israeli strikes also hit Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight, once a bustling collection of neighborhoods and a key Hezbollah stronghold.
Now, many buildings are almost completely destroyed, and Hezbollah’s yellow flags are flying out of the ruins, according to Reuters correspondents who were taken on a tour of the area by Hezbollah.
Some buildings were partially damaged by the attacks, causing some floors to collapse and furniture and other personal belongings to be scattered across cars parked below.
Men and women were picking up their belongings from the debris, stuffing blankets and mats under their armpits or into black plastic bags.
“We are trying to collect as much as we can (of our possessions) so that we can make ends meet, nothing more,” said Hassan Hannawi, one of the people searching for his belongings.
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