Israeli airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital city of Beirut in the past 24 hours resulted in the deaths of at least 40 people, including several children, Lebanese authorities said as reported by Reuters.
Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre left at least seven people dead, among them five siblings, three of whom were deaf and mute officials said as reported by AP.
The rise in Tyre's death toll came as Israel's air force carried out airstrikes on different parts of southern and eastern Lebanon on Saturday hours after Beirut's southern suburbs were pounded by jets, destroying several buildings, state media reported.
The Israeli military had previously issued evacuation orders for parts of the city, but no new instructions were released by the Israeli military spokesperson on the social media platform X before the strikes on Friday.
The health ministry confirmed that two children were among those killed in Tyre, adding that rescue teams are continuing their efforts, and any additional body parts recovered will undergo DNA testing for identification.
On Saturday, Israeli strikes in nearby towns killed 13 people, including seven medics from rescue groups linked to Hezbollah and Amal, according to the health ministry. Additionally, at least 20 more people were reported dead in strikes across the eastern plains near the historic city of Baalbek.
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.
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.
(With inputs from Reuters, AP)
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