Lebanon army says targeted Israeli strike wounds two troops

BEIRUT: The Lebanese army said on Tuesday that two soldiers were wounded in a targeted Israeli strike while they were engaged in a rescue operation in southern Lebanon, despite an ongoing ceasefire between the two countries.

The statement was the first time the Lebanese army has said its troops have been targeted since the truce began.

The army said “two soldiers were wounded as a result of a hostile Israeli targeting of an army patrol that was accompanied by civil defence personnel and two civilian bulldozers in the town of Majdal Zoun… during an operation to rescue civilians”.

Also read: Lebanese army restores road, bridge damaged by Israeli strikes

Lebanon’s civil defence also said three of its rescuers were left “trapped under the rubble” by the airstrike, and efforts are underway to rescue them.

Israel carried out heavy airstrikes across southern Lebanon on Tuesday, despite a ceasefire in its war with Hezbollah that came into effect on April 17.

Israel carried out intense attacks on Tuesday, including demolition operations, in the country’s south, where its troops are operating inside an Israeli-announced “yellow line” near the border where Lebanese residents have been warned not to return.

Hezbollah, for its part, announced operations targeting Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

On Tuesday the Lebanese health ministry raised the death toll to 2,534 people killed since the war began on March 2.