Fresh Israeli airstrikes kill 63, injure dozens in Lebanon

BEIRUT

At least 63 people were killed and 92 others injured in a fresh wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting various regions in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday, the Health Ministry said.

A ministry statement said at least 45 people lost their lives and 70 others were wounded in a deadly Israeli airstrike in the town of Ain Ed Delb, east of Sidon in southern Lebanon on Sunday.

Authorities had earlier put the death toll in the same attack at 24 people.

The ministry said 12 more people were killed and 20 others injured in Israeli strikes in the eastern region of Hermel.

Six medics were also killed and four others injured when Israeli fighter jets hit a civil defense center in the town of Sohmor in western Bekaa Valley.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 900 people and injuring over 2,700 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Several Hezbollah commanders have been killed in the Israeli assault, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said early Thursday that Tel Aviv will only accept a cease-fire in Lebanon when Hezbollah is pushed away from the border to the north of the Litani River and disarmed.

On Monday, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Lebanon was ready to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which involves deploying the Lebanese army south of the Litani River.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,600 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul