BEIRUT, March 9 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 people were killed and 55 others wounded in Israeli airstrikes targeting towns in southern Lebanon from Sunday night to dawn on Monday, according to Lebanese official and security sources.
In separate statements, the Public Health Emergency Operations Center at Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health said that an Israeli strike in the Al-Athar neighborhood in the city of Tyre killed eight people. Another strike on the town of Tebnine killed two people and wounded six others.
The center added that two people were killed and eight wounded in an airstrike targeting a poultry farm in the town of Yahmar, while three people were killed and 16 injured in a strike on the village of Jouaiya. Three others were killed and 15 wounded in a raid on the village of Tayr Debba, and two people were killed and 10 injured in a strike on the town of Ghazieh.
The Israeli army issued a new warning to residents in several Lebanese areas, saying, "In the coming hours, the Israeli army will act forcefully against infrastructure belonging to the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association," referring to the group linked to Hezbollah, and urging residents in Beirut's southern suburbs and other areas to evacuate.
At dawn on Monday, violent clashes also erupted in the Al-Chaara area and on the outskirts of the town of Nabi Chit in eastern Lebanon following an attempted Israeli helicopter-borne landing operation, according to Lebanese official sources.
Lebanese Health Minister Rakan Nasreddine said at a press conference on Sunday that Israeli attacks on Lebanon since Monday had killed 394 people, including 83 children, and wounded 1,130 others.
Hezbollah began launching rockets from Lebanon toward Israel early Monday for the first time since a ceasefire was declared on Nov. 27, 2024, prompting the Lebanese government to announce a ban on its security and military activities, limiting it to political work and obligating it to hand over its weapons.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army launched what it described as an "offensive military campaign" against Hezbollah, carrying out intense airstrikes on multiple Lebanese areas and border ground incursions, accompanied by warnings for residents to evacuate areas south of the Litani River and Beirut's southern suburbs. ■
