Beirut: Lebanon’s health ministry has reported that at least 22 people, including eight children, died on Wednesday from intensified Israeli strikes on Lebanon, with multiple lethal attacks south of Beirut inflicting heavy damage on residential areas and infrastructure, AFP reported.
The National News Agency (NNA) indicated Israeli airstrikes targeted about 40 sites in southern and eastern Lebanon.
These latest assaults occurred just before a fresh round of direct Lebanon-Israel negotiations in Washington, mediated by the United States, even as Iran-backed Hezbollah vehemently opposes the process.
Highway Carnage & Village Toll
The health ministry announced late on Wednesday that strikes on three villages in south Lebanon claimed 10 lives, including six children.
It had earlier noted three attacks on vehicles along or near the coastal highway, 20 to 30 km from Beirut, which “resulted in eight martyrs, including two children”.
According to the NNA, two strikes hit vehicles on the major highway connecting the capital to the south, with a third landing close by.
An AFP photographer observed a charred vehicle and rescuers retrieving a body at one location near Jiyeh town.
The ministry added four more fatalities from strikes on four cars in south Lebanon’s Tyre district and in Sidon, about 40 kilometres south of Beirut.
Ongoing Hostilities and Diplomatic Efforts
In Sidon, an AFP correspondent observed dozens of mourners attending the funeral of two Lebanese civil defence personnel who perished in an Israeli strike the previous day.
Colleagues from the civil defence force, with Lebanese flags in hand, formed an honour guard as the coffins — draped in the national flag and topped by a rescue helmet and flak jacket — passed by.
Earlier this week, Beirut requested that Washington exert pressure on Israel to suspend its strikes prior to the negotiations scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
Veteran diplomat Simon Karam is set to lead Lebanon’s delegation in these talks for the first time, with the United States aiming for a historic resolution between the parties notwithstanding the continuing violence.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem issued a stark warning that his fighters would transform the battlefield into “hell” for Israel.
Since Hezbollah involved Lebanon in the wider Middle East conflict in early March, Lebanese authorities report more than 2,800 fatalities, including over 200 children.
Hezbollah says the casualty figures include its own fighters.
