Israel uses phosphorus bombs to strike several towns in southern Lebanon

BEIRUT

Israel on Friday again used phosphorus bombs to target several towns in southern Lebanon, causing forest fires that spread and threatening residential areas.

Israeli forces dropped phosphorus bombs on Houla, and the forest in the area caught fire, with civil defense teams working to extinguish the flames, which were spreading and reaching residential areas, Lebanon's official National News Agency reported.

Israeli forces also used phosphorus bombs to target the towns of Tallouseh, Adaisseh, and Kfarkela in southern Lebanon, with ambulances transporting victims suffering from suffocation to Marjayoun Governmental Hospital, the news agency added.

The army also targeted the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab and Wadi al-Asafir in Khiyam, as well as the towns of Deir Mimas and Kfarkela, with artillery fire, it said.

It added that the town of Marwahin also came under heavy Israeli artillery fire on Friday afternoon, as were the towns of Naqoura and Alma al-Shaab in the western sector.

Additionally, an Israeli tank targeted Walid Nasser's home in the Azra'il neighborhood on the outskirts of Kfarchouba. The house was vacant at the time.

Hezbollah targets Israeli soldiers

Meanwhile, Hezbollah claimed on Friday that it injured several soldiers during 10 attacks on the Israeli army and troop gatherings near the Lebanon border.

In a statement, Hezbollah said it used a drone to target an Israeli military technical system at the Metula site, resulting in a direct hit and destruction.

It also used appropriate weapons to destroy Israeli army surveillance equipment at the Jal al-Deir and Misgav Am sites, the statement said.

Hezbollah noted that its fighters launched multiple Katyusha and Falaq rocket attacks on buildings used by Israeli soldiers in Metula, Kiryat Shmona, and Kfar Szold settlements.

The Lebanon-based group reported using rocket-propelled weapons to target Israeli soldiers' positions near Harash Baram and the Ramtha site in the hills of Kfarchouba.

Earlier, Hezbollah stated in a statement that it used rocket-propelled weapons to target the Al-Samaqa site in the occupied Kfarchouba hills and the Metula site in northern Israel.

They also reported to have targeted a group of Israeli soldiers in Khallat Warde, located across from the border town of Aita al-Shaabi.

Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 37,300 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 85,100 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio