Israeli strike wounds 16 children in south Lebanon

The Israeli military bombarded several villages in southern and eastern Lebanon over the weekend, wounding 16 children in one air strike.

The Islamic Health Committee said that the Saturday strike on the southern village of Siddikine, located inland from the coastal city of Tyre, wounded children between the ages of four and 14. 

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said that the strike was one of several conducted by Israel in south Lebanon on Saturday, resulting in seven people being wounded.

Overnight bombing of the town of Bint Jbeil destroyed part of its famed old souk. Images shared by local media showed a number of shops, buildings and homes damaged in the strike. 

Israel has intensified its drone strikes on Lebanon since Friday night. The Israeli army said in a statement on Saturday that it had staged more than 40 air strikes over the past 72 hours against Hezbollah “military targets” in Lebanon.

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that two Israeli air strikes on the group’s positions wounded two people west of the city of Baalbek, in a remote area of eastern Lebanon far from the border.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged regular cross-border fire since the start of the war on Gaza on 7 October.

On Saturday, Hezbollah shot down an Israeli Hermes 900 drone over Lebanese territory by a surface-to-air missile.

Israel’s military on Sunday said it has intercepted several rockets from a barrage fired from Lebanon towards the Margaliot area in northern Israel.

Last week, three children were wounded in an Israeli drone strike in south Lebanon that killed a Hezbollah fighter in the car ahead of their school bus, blowing out the windscreen of the minibus. 

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed almost 450 people, including at least 80 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, at least 14 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed, according to the army.