Israel targets farmers with phosphorus shells in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army targeted farmers in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district with phosphorus shells on Tuesday, while detaining three civilians and wounding another person, according to Lebanese media reports.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli forces fired three phosphorus shells near farmers harvesting watermelons in fields near the Mansouri junction in Tyre district.

The farmers fled the area immediately after the shelling and no injuries were reported, the agency said.

Israeli aircraft also struck the towns of Hanawieh and Maarka in Tyre district, according to NNA.

In the same district, the Islamic Health Committee said it recovered the body of a civilian from beneath the rubble of a house in the town of Qana that was hit by Israeli forces Monday, while search operations for other missing people continued.

In southern Lebanon’s eastern sector, NNA reported that Israeli forces established a checkpoint at the Marjayoun-Halta junction in Nabatieh district near shops previously targeted in shelling attacks.

The agency said Israeli soldiers detained three civilians and confiscated several cellphones from people in the area.

NNA also reported that Israeli warplanes carried out two airstrikes on the town of Dabin in Nabatieh district, while a drone strike early Tuesday targeted a motorcycle on the Kfar Dajjal-Nabatieh road, injuring one person.

The attacks came amid continued Israeli violations of the fragile ceasefire announced on April 17 and extended Friday for an additional 45 days until early July.

Since March 2, Israel has carried out a large-scale offensive on Lebanon that has killed 2,988 people and wounded 9,210 others, while displacing more than 1.6 million people, according to Lebanese official figures.

*Writing by Serdar Dincel in Istanbul