31 killed in fresh Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon

ISTANBUL

At least 31 people were killed and dozens injured in a series of Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon Thursday, as Tel Aviv continued to expand its offensive on the Arab country, Lebanese media said.

The Health Ministry said nine people, including five children, were killed and seven others injured in an initial toll from an Israeli strike targeting the town of Arki in Sidon district in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, citing another ministry statement, said three people were killed and a child was injured in a dawn strike in the village of Aramoun in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Eight more people lost their lives and 31 others were injured in an Israeli strike in Ramleh Al-Bayda neighborhood in Beirut, the ministry said.

Three people were also killed and others injured when an Israeli strike targeted the town of Barish in the Tyre District, the news agency said.

Another Israeli drone strike hit a car in the town of Deir Antar, killing three people, according to NNA.

The outlet reported that two academics were killed in an Israeli strike targeting the Faculty of Science in the Hadath area of Beirut’s southern suburbs, marking the first attack on a government building since Israel expanded its offensive on March 2.

The agency added that another Israeli strike on the southern town of Ain Ebel killed three people.

On March 2, Lebanese group Hezbollah began attacking Israeli military sites in response to repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the killing of Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a US-Israeli strike.

Israel retaliated by launching a military campaign on Lebanon, carrying out airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and areas in the south and east of the country, and on March 3 began a limited ground incursion in southern Lebanon.

According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, the attacks have resulted in 687 deaths, including 98 children, and 1,774 injuries.

*Writing by Rania Abushamala in Istanbul.