Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon killed at least 14 people Thursday, including women, children, and a Lebanese soldier, as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah escalated ahead of planned security talks in Washington.
The strikes targeted multiple locations across Lebanon’s south, including the major coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state media. Dozens of people were also reported wounded amid the intensified bombardment.
The latest escalation follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that Israel would expand military operations against Hezbollah. The move reportedly came in response to Hezbollah’s growing use of fiber-optic explosive drones that have targeted Israeli troops and communities near Israel’s northern border.
In Tyre, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for several buildings and nearby neighborhoods before the attacks began, prompting many residents to flee the area.
Further north in Sidon, an Israeli drone strike hit an apartment building housing displaced families, killing five people and injuring at least 21 others, including children. Among those killed was Hossan Zeidan, a former correspondent for Iran’s Arabic-language al-Aalam television network.
Residents described scenes of chaos following the explosion.
Mohammad Al-Gharbi, who lived nearby, said debris and shattered glass crashed into his home when the strike hit.
“This building that was hit had six apartments occupied by poor families who had fled from the south to escape the attacks there, only to be hit here,” he said.
In the coastal town of Adloun, another Israeli drone strike targeted a fleeing family vehicle, killing six people, including two parents and their children, according to Lebanese officials.
Additional strikes near Tyre and Nabatiyeh also killed two civilians on a motorcycle and a Lebanese soldier traveling separately on his motorcycle.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said one Israeli soldier was killed and two reservists wounded in a Hezbollah drone attack in northern Israel.
Lebanese and Israeli military officials are expected to meet Friday in Washington for rare security talks aimed at maintaining a fragile ceasefire that officially took effect on April 17. Despite the truce, violence has continued to intensify across southern Lebanon, although Beirut has largely been spared.
Hezbollah has rejected the negotiations and instead aligned itself with Iran, which reportedly insists that any broader diplomatic progress with Washington depends on ending the conflict in Lebanon.
The ongoing conflict began after Hezbollah launched rockets into northern Israel on March 2 in support of Iran following the outbreak of the Iran-Israel war.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says more than 3,269 people have been killed and over 9,800 wounded since the conflict began, while more than one million people have been displaced.
Israeli officials say at least 23 Israeli soldiers, a defense contractor, and two civilians have also been killed during the fighting, most in drone attacks.
