INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon over the last day have killed at least 40 people including several children, Lebanese authorities said on
Saturday, after heavy Israeli bombardment pounded the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut overnight, Reuters reported.At least seven
people were killed in the coastal city of Tyre late on Friday, Lebanon&s health ministry said
The Israeli military has previously ordered swathes of the city to evacuate but there were no orders published by the Israeli military
spokesperson on social media platform X before Friday&s strikes.The ministry said two children were among the dead
Rescue operations were ongoing and other body parts retrieved in the aftermath of the attack would undergo DNA testing to identify them, the
ministry added.Strikes in nearby towns on Saturday killed 13 people, including seven medics from rescue groups affiliated to Hezbollah and
its ally Amal, the health ministry said.At least 20 more people were killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday across the eastern plains around
the historic city of Baalbek, the health ministry said.The Israeli military said it had struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the areas
of Tyre and Baalbek, including fighters, &operational apartments,& and weapons stores.The Lebanese health ministry said Israeli attacks have
killed at least 3,136 people and wounded 13,979 in Lebanon over the last year
The toll includes 619 women and 194 children, read the report.Israel has been locked in fighting with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah since
October 2023, but fighting has escalated dramatically since late September of this year
Israel has intensified and expanded its bombing campaign, and Hezbollah has ramped up daily rocket and drone attacks against Israel.The
Iran-backed group announced more than 20 operations on Saturday, as well as one that it said fighters carried out the previous day against a
military factory south of Tel Aviv.More than a dozen Israeli strikes also hit the southern suburbs of Beirut overnight, once a bustling
collection of neighbourhoods and a key stronghold of Hezbollah.Now, many buildings have been almost entirely flattened, with Hezbollah&s
yellow flags jutting out from the ruins, according to Reuters reporters who were taken on a tour of the area by Hezbollah, Reuters
reported.Some buildings were partially damaged by the strikes, leading some floors to collapse and sending furniture and other personal
belongings spilling onto parked cars below.Men and women were picking through the rubble for their belongings, shoving blankets and mats
under their arms or into black plastic bags.&We are trying to gather as many (of our possessions) as we can, so we can manage to live off
them, nothing more,& said Hassan Hannawi, one of the men looking for his belongings.The post At least 40 killed as Israel pounds Lebanon,
Lebanese officials say first appeared on Ariana News.
