Dozens of Israeli airstrikes pounded Lebanon late Friday and early Saturday, killing and injuring several people, Lebanon’s national news agency said, exposing the mounting strain on a truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The strikes mostly hit towns and villages in southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold where Israel is occupying large swaths of territory and where tens of thousands of residents remain displaced. The Israeli military also issued new evacuation warnings on Saturday afternoon for several towns across southern Lebanon.
A truce first reached in mid-April was meant to ease weeks of violence, but near-daily airstrikes still disrupt daily life and deepen uncertainty for people across the country. The cease-fire formed part of a broader arrangement involving Iran, which regional mediators have spent recent days trying to turn into a more permanent agreement amid fears that it could unravel and trigger renewed American-Israeli strikes.
Saturday’s attacks come just a day after Israeli strikes killed six paramedics in two incidents in southern Lebanon within 24 hours, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Over 120 medics have been killed in the latest conflict, according to the ministry.
In one of the strikes, in Deir Qanoun an-Nahr, the Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah operatives traveling on motorcycles. In the second strike, in Hanouiyeh, the military said it had struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites where militants were present. The Israeli military said in a statement it was examining whether the two strikes hit civilians in the aftermath, following reports that “several uninvolved individuals” were harmed.
Another Israeli airstrike on Thursday damaged the three-story Tibnin hospital, a key medical facility operating near the region that Israel is occupying.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire in southern Lebanon almost daily since the truce took effect, with each accusing the other of violating the deal.
Lebanese authorities say the attacks on medical workers amount to violations of international law.
Many of Saturday’s strikes focused on areas in and around the coastal district of Tyre, emergency workers and doctors at a hospital in the area said. Shortly after midnight, an airstrike leveled a house in the town of Deir Qanoun an-Nahr in Tyre, killing four people, according to Lebanon’s state news agency. An Israeli drone also targeted a citrus grove in the town of Bazourieh, wounding several Syrian laborers who were working there, the agency said.
Another strike hit a building near Hiram Hospital, which the Israeli military had ordered evacuated, shattering windows and damaging parts of the hospital, including operating rooms, doctors at the hospital said in interviews. Hiram is one of the main functioning medical centers in Tyre. At least four newborns were evacuated safely from the hospital, according to the nursing supervisor, Mohammad Salem.
“We are scared,” Mr. Salem said in an interview, adding that it was the third strike near the hospital. “We know that we will always have to be cautious because the Israeli military has no limits, not even when it comes to a hospital.”
A soldier sustained “moderate injuries” after an Israeli strike targeted an army barracks in the southern city of Nabatieh on Saturday, the Lebanese army said in a statement.
Israeli warplanes also carried out airstrikes early Saturday on the eastern Bekaa region, according to Lebanon’s state media.
The Israeli military said on Saturday that it had struck an underground Hezbollah compound in the Bekaa Valley that it said was used to manufacture weapons, as well as Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Tyre.
Hezbollah also said it targeted Israeli soldiers and positions with rockets and drone attacks.
More than 3,100 people have been killed in Lebanon since early March, when Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel in support of Iran, which just days before had been attacked by the United States and Israel.
On Saturday, mourners gathered for the funeral of some of the paramedics killed on Friday. Relatives leaned over the coffins in grief, scattering flowers across them and sharing memories of the men being buried, even as Israeli warplanes and drones roared overhead.
Brahim Diab, 32, spoke in an interview about his relative Ahmad Hariri, a paramedic and photojournalist who was killed in Deir Qanoun an-Nahr on Friday.
“Ahmad is everything that is beautiful in this life,” he said. “He always made sure he gave everyone their time. He was exhausted, but he was happy.”
Daniel Berehulak and Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
Abdi Latif Dahir is a Middle East correspondent for The Times, covering Lebanon and Syria. He is based in Beirut.
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