BEIRUT — Israeli air attacks have killed at least 11 people and wounded 15 others in eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said.
The attacks came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had authorized more intensive strikes against Hezbollah across Lebanon, putting further pressure on a US-brokered ceasefire that took effect last month.
The air attacks hit the village of Mashghara in the Bekaa Valley late on Monday, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it struck more than 100 Hezbollah infrastructure sites and “terrorists” in the Bekaa Valley and across southern Lebanon in the wave of attacks.
Two people, including a paramedic, were killed and others injured on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting an emergency medical center in southern Lebanon, Lebanese media reported.
Fighter jets hit the center of the Islamic Risala Scout Association in Srifa town, causing the casualties, NNA said.
At least 116 medics and health workers have been killed and hundreds injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since early March, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces advanced into the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiya north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon, amid reported clashes with Hezbollah.
A local source told Anadolu that an Israeli force entered Zawtar al-Sharqiya in the Nabatieh district following intense airstrikes and artillery shelling over the past hours.
In response, Hezbollah issued a series of statements claiming its fighters targeted gatherings of Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in and around the village using rockets, artillery shells, and explosive drones.
The Israeli army has issued call-up orders for reserve soldiers in order to expand its offensive in Lebanon, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported on Tuesday.
The army has begun mobilizing reservists to increase its activity beyond the ceasefire line in Lebanon, the broadcaster stated, noting that soldiers recently released from service have been ordered to return immediately.
The report, however, did not specify the number of reservists to be mobilized.
The move followed a Sunday meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet, during which army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir reportedly called for renewed strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Israel briefly halted its strikes on Beirut in April at the request of the US as Washington and Tehran continued Pakistan-mediated diplomatic talks to end the Iran war that started on Feb. 28.
But it has continued to violate the ceasefire. Nearly 3,200 people have been killed, over 9,600 injured, and more than 1.6 million displaced by Israeli bombardment in Lebanon si
Elsewhere, NNA reported that the southern Lebanese towns of Arnoun, Yohmor al-Shaqif, and Mayfadoun were under heavy artillery bombardment by Israeli forces, also reaching the vicinity of the Beaufort Castle in Nabatieh district.
Mayfadoun had been subjected to a series of Israeli air attacks since dawn, while Shahour in the Tyre district in southern Lebanon was being subjected to shelling, NNA said.
There were reports of air attacks also on the towns of Kawthariyat al-Ruz, Sarafina, Kafr and Majdal Selem, all in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military issued forced displacement orders for residents in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh.
“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move north of the Zahrani River. Anyone who is near Hezbollah members, facilities or military equipment is putting their life at risk!” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, posted on X.
Source: Saudi Gazette