The strikes have heightened fears of a renewed Israeli military campaign in Lebanon after several days of escalating attacks, despite a June ceasefire intended to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said 11 people, including two children and four women, were killed in a strike on a residential building in Kfar Rumman. A separate Israeli drone strike on a civilian vehicle killed a medic and wounded two others, the ministry said.
Reuters reporters at the scene saw children’s schoolbooks scattered among the rubble of the collapsed building. Rescue workers used heavy machinery throughout the morning to search for victims trapped underneath the debris.
Locals said eight-year-old Mustafa Farhat lost his mother and grandparents in the strike, while rescue teams continued searching for his father. The boy was being treated in hospital for his injuries.
Mona Farhat, a relative of the victims, said the attack struck the family home shortly before children were due to leave for school.
“What did they target? What is the goal they are targeting? Do they want us to leave our land? They are mistaken,” she told Reuters from the hospital.
The Israeli military said it had struck people it identified as transferring weapons in the area. It said measures had been taken to minimise harm to civilians, including the use of precision weapons and aerial surveillance.
The military said it was reviewing reports that civilians had been harmed. The strikes on Kfar Rumman were carried out without an online evacuation warning, according to the report.
Escalation in southern Lebanon
The Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched two explosive drones overnight towards Israeli troops operating near the Ali al-Taher ridge, a strategic area in southeastern Lebanon where Hezbollah is believed to have established an underground military complex.
Israel said last week that it had cleared Hezbollah fighters from tunnels beneath the ridge. Hezbollah has not commented on the claim, and Reuters could not independently verify the military situation there.
Lebanese security officials said Israel had intensified strikes on towns north and west of the ridge in recent days, including areas where residents had returned following the June ceasefire.
The officials said they expected further escalation in southern Lebanon in the coming weeks.
On Sunday, at least 11 people were killed in Israeli strikes on three towns near the ridge, according to an updated Health Ministry toll.
Two women were among those killed in strikes on Arab Salim, where the Israeli military had issued an online evacuation warning early that morning.
The Health Ministry also said separate Israeli strikes had destroyed Ghandour Hospital in Nabatieh al-Fawqa.
Four other people, including a woman, were killed in Israeli strikes on Friday, the ministry said. Those attacks were also carried out without evacuation warnings.
More than 4,300 killed since March
Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed more than 4,300 people since Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel on March 2, two days after US and Israeli strikes on Iran triggered a broader conflict.
According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, those killed include more than 250 children, nearly 400 women and more than 130 medical workers. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its overall figures, while Hezbollah has not released a separate toll for its fighters.
The June ceasefire significantly reduced the intensity of the fighting, but Israeli troops have continued to occupy parts of southern Lebanon and demolish structures in areas declared by Israel as a security zone.
Israel has also continued conducting airstrikes inside the zone and in areas further north, many of them without prior evacuation warnings.
