Israeli strikes kill 18 in Lebanon, bombardment intensifies in south

Israeli strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 20 others on Tuesday, according to Lebanon's official sources, as Israel intensified its bombardment campaign across southern Lebanon, said Xinhua. Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israel launched about 33 airstrikes on southern Lebanon within an hour on Tuesday. Early Tuesday, Israeli strikes on a town in the western Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon killed 11 people, including two girls and a woman, and wounded 15 others, including a child, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry, which said rescue operations were still ongoing. In southern Lebanon, an Israeli strike on a house in Maarakeh killed one person and wounded several others, while a drone strike on a vehicle in Khirbet Selm in southern Lebanon killed another person, according to the NNA. Lebanon's Health Ministry also said an Israeli strike on the town of Srifa in the Tyre district in southern Lebanon killed a paramedic from the Islamic Risala Scout Association and wounded two other paramedics. Separately, four people were killed and three others wounded in an Israeli airstrike targeting the cemetery area of the southern town of Kfar Remmen on Tuesday afternoon, the NNA reported. On Tuesday, the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings to residents of the southern city of Nabatieh and the western Bekaa towns of Machghara and Sohmor. Meanwhile, Hezbollah said its members confronted an Israeli army incursion toward the southern town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and targeted Israeli forces in the area with rockets and artillery shelling since dawn Tuesday. Lebanon's Health Ministry said the death toll from Israeli attacks since March 2 has reached 3,213, with 9,737 others wounded. A ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon took effect in April. Despite the truce, Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes in Lebanon, while Hezbollah has launched attacks on Israeli military positions.