Israeli strikes on southern Lebanese town kill 11, state news agency says

BEIRUT: Israeli strikes on a southern Lebanese town early on Monday killed at least 11 people including two children and two medics, Lebanon’s state news agency said.

Israel has intensified its bombardment of south Lebanon in recent days despite a June ceasefire that was meant to halt fighting between the Israeli military and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

At least seven people were killed in Israeli strikes on Sunday. Just after midnight, Israeli warplanes hit a residential building in the town of Kfar Rumman in southern Lebanon, killing nine people including two children, and wounding five more, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

A separate Israeli drone strike on a civilian vehicle in the town killed two medics inside the car, it said.

The strikes on the town came without an online evacuation warning from the Israeli military.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to Reuters’ questions on the strikes, including whether it was aware of the presence of medics and children at the strike locations and why no evacuation warning was issued.

A spokesperson for the Israeli military issued a separate evacuation warning just after 2:00 a.m. local time (2300 GMT on Sunday) for areas around a building in another town in southern Lebanon where it said it would strike Hezbollah facilities.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed more than 4,300 people since Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel on March 2 — two days after the start of US and Israeli strikes on Iran — triggering an Israeli air and ground offensive.

The ceasefire saw violence decrease dramatically, but Israeli troops occupying swathes of southern Lebanon have continued razing villages in the self-declared security zone.

Israel’s military has continued carrying out strikes both within the zone and to its north, mostly without evacuation warnings.