BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, April 28 (Xinhua) -- At least seven people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Tuesday, including three Lebanese Civil Defense rescuers, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
The ministry's Emergency Operations Center said the preliminary toll from the Israeli airstrike targeting the village of Majdal Zoun included five dead, among them three civil defense paramedics who were trapped under the rubble after being targeted while carrying out a rescue mission.
The statement added that two Lebanese army soldiers were also injured in the attack.
In another statement, the center said two people were killed and 13 others wounded in a preliminary toll after an Israeli airstrike targeted the southern village of Jibchit on Tuesday night.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the killing of three civil defense personnel in Majdal Zoun, saying that targeting rescuers constituted a violation of international laws, according to a statement from the presidency.
Also on Tuesday, Hezbollah said in a statement that it shot down an Israeli army Hermes 900 drone with a surface-to-air missile over the town of Qantara in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said in a statement that an Israeli civilian employed as a contract worker for the Defense Ministry was killed in southern Lebanon by a Hezbollah explosive drone.
The man worked for an engineering company contracted by the ministry to carry out projects in Lebanon, the military said, without elaborating.
The developments came despite a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon that took effect at midnight between April 16 and 17, following weeks of intensified cross-border fighting linked to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that the current 10-day ceasefire would be extended by three weeks. ■
