Several members of a family were killed in fresh Israeli attacks in Lebanon on Thursday, health authorities said, as tensions between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah continue to escalate.
Six people were killed in a strike south of the coastal city of Sidon in the morning, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. The dead included two children as well as their mother and father, it added.
The state news agency NNA reported that the victims were a family displaced by the fighting.
NNA also reported that two people were killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting a motorcycle near the coastal city of Tyre. The Ministry of Health said one of the dead was a child. The victims were said to be Syrian nationals.
Another strike was reported directly in the city of Sidon, where deaths and injuries were also reported. Exact casualty figures were not immediately available.
The Israeli military did not initially comment on the reports.
'Combat zone' declared in south Lebanon
The Lebanese army, which is not a party to the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, said one of its soldiers was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Nabatieh province on Thursday.
On Wednesday evening, the Israeli military declared large parts of southern Lebanon a “combat zone.” Residents of Tyre, Nabatieh and surrounding areas were told to leave.
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, three people were killed and 37 injured in a strike near Tyre on Wednesday evening.
“It was a terrible night,” one resident of Tyre told dpa. “Attack after attack,” he said, adding that electricity had failed in many areas and many people had spent the night on the beach.
Long lines of traffic formed, heading north towards Beirut, following the Israeli evacuation warnings.
Sirens sounds in northern Israel, soldier killed
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified sharply. Israel and the Lebanese government agreed to a ceasefire in mid-April. Hezbollah, however, has rejected negotiations with Israel, and fighting has continued since then.
Both sides keep carrying out daily attacks, with casualties frequently reported, particularly in Lebanon.
The Israeli military on Thursday also reported the death of a soldier.
According to Israeli media reports, she was killed in a Hezbollah drone attack near the Lebanese border. Two other soldiers were injured in the incident on Wednesday, the military said.
The Israeli army also said it intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” near Israeli troops in southern Lebanon on Thursday morning, triggering air raid sirens in northern Israel.
