Israeli Strikes Target Hezbollah Sites In Southern Lebanon, Eight Civilians Killed

Israeli drone strikes hit multiple vehicles along a main highway south of Beirut on Wednesday, killing at least eight people, including a woman and her two children, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health. The attacks mark a fresh escalation in cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions.

The Lebanese health authorities said three separate strikes targeted vehicles moving along key routes connecting Beirut with southern Lebanon. One strike hit a highway linking the capital to the southern city of Sidon, while another occurred near the coastal town of Saadiyat. A further strike was reported near Sidon’s northern entrance, where a car was hit in the early afternoon. Emergency responders recovered multiple bodies from the wreckage, though officials did not immediately specify how many victims were in each vehicle.

An Associated Press photographer at the scene reported seeing the bodies of three victims near the coastal areas of Barja and Jiyeh following two of the strikes. The attacks caused widespread panic along the busy coastal highway, which is a vital route for civilian and commercial traffic between Beirut and southern Lebanon.

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The Israeli military said it conducted the strikes targeting Hezbollah infrastructure across several areas in southern Lebanon. The strikes came hours after Israel issued evacuation warnings to residents in six southern villages, urging them to leave ahead of what it described as planned military operations against militant positions.

The escalation comes as Lebanon and Israel prepare for another round of direct talks in Washington on Thursday, part of a US-led diplomatic push to ease tensions between the two sides, which remain formally in a state of war since Israel’s establishment in 1948. Despite a US-brokered ceasefire that took effect on April 17, both sides have continued to report strikes and retaliatory attacks.

According to Lebanon’s Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine, the violence has continued to exact a heavy toll, with hundreds killed and more than a thousand wounded since the ceasefire began. He added that overall casualties since the latest phase of conflict erupted earlier this year have reached thousands, underscoring the fragility of the current truce.

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