11 killed, several injured in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon

ISTANBUL

Israeli airstrikes on Sunday targeted towns in southern Lebanon, killing at least 11 people and injuring several others, according to the country’s official news agency.

Seven of the victims were killed and a number of others were wounded in a strike on the town of Hanniyeh in the Tyre district, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.

In a separate strike, two people were killed and three others injured in the town of Jwaya in the same district, the agency added.

Two paramedics were also killed in an Israeli airstrike on a center belonging to the Islamic Health Organization near Bint Jbeil Hospital in southern Lebanon, according to the same source.

Israel has pounded Lebanon with airstrikes and launched a ground offensive in the south since a cross-border attack by Hezbollah on March 2.

Lebanese authorities said that 1,142 have since been killed and 3,315 others wounded in the Israeli assault.

The escalation came amid a joint US-Israeli offensive on Iran, which has killed more than 1,340 people since Feb. 28. Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, US bases and Gulf countries.

*Writing by Rasa Evrensel in Istanbul