Israel has ramped up air attacks across Lebanon as its ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon since they invaded six weeks ago before pulling back after battles with Hezbollah fighters, Lebanese state media reported.
On Saturday, Israeli air strikes on the village of Khreibeh in the Baalbek District of eastern Lebanon killed six people including three children, and injured 11 others, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
Strikes earlier on Saturday killed two medics in south Lebanon, including one in Borj Rahal and another in Kfartebnit, and injured four other rescue workers, with two still missing, the ministry added.
Israeli air strikes also targeted areas of the southern suburbs of Beirut for a fifth consecutive day. The Israeli military has said the attacks were directed at Hezbollah infrastructure, including a weapons storage facility and a command centre.
Reporting from the Lebanese capital Beirut, media’s Charles Stratford said that most residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs had fled.
“There is virtually nobody there now. People used to go back and check on their homes, their belongings and their businesses during the day but that has now become increasingly difficult,” he said.
He noted that the initial strikes happened around 9am (06:00 GMT). Following evacuation orders, there was another round of strikes in the afternoon.
“There was another massive wave of strikes on the southern city of Tyre, and as we understand, around the surrounding villages, too. The Israeli military put out evacuation threats for at least 15 villages in southern Lebanon so far today,” Stratford added.
The Iran-aligned armed group Hezbollah fired approximately 65 missiles towards Israel by Saturday afternoon, the Israeli military said.
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