Israel hits southern Lebanon in new round of air raids, while at least 15 people are killed in attacks in central and northern parts of the country.
A series of Israeli air raids have destroyed a mosque and levelled a marketplace in southern Lebanon, in what has been described as “apocalyptic” scenes as Israel intensifies and widens its bombardment campaign across the country.
In the latest Israeli raid early on Sunday, an old mosque in the village of Kfar Tibnit in southern Lebanon was “completely destroyed”, the National News Agency reported. There were no immediate reports on deaths.
In the southern city of Nabatieh, an attack on a market late on Saturday killed several people and caused a fire, according to the Lebanese Red Cross. The number of dead and injured is yet to be determined due to the huge fire.
Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan, reporting from capital Beirut, said the Lebanese Red Cross is still trying to see “if there were any survivors and trying to pull out those injured”.
“Many people have taken to social media. They have been sending videos of what almost seems like apocalyptic scenes – entire streets destroyed.
“The fire was so bad that emergency services were not able to get in and see if there were bodies in the rubble,” said Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, reporting from Hasbaiyya in Nabatieh governorate, adding that the market “is now completely destroyed”.
The latest attacks followed an Israeli order for Lebanese civilians to evacuate 23 southern villages. Many people fled to northern Lebanon to escape Israeli air raids.
Meanwhile, at least 15 people were killed and 37 wounded in attacks in central and northern Lebanon as Israeli forces hit at least three areas outside the traditional strongholds of the Lebanese group, Hezbollah.
The town of Deir Billa in northern Lebanon was hit in an Israeli air raid for the first time since hostilities escalated. Two people were killed and four injured as unidentified “body parts” were recovered after an Israeli attack, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
In Barja, south of Beirut, four people were killed and 18 wounded in a raid, according to the ministry, which also reported nine deaths and 15 injuries in an “enemy strike” on the village of Maaysrah to the north of Beirut.
The Israeli attacks also wounded another United Nations peacekeeper in the south, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Western countries to condemn the attacks, which the UN described as a “serious development”.
Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said he feared an Israeli escalation against Hezbollah could soon spiral “into a regional conflict with catastrophic impact for everyone”. There is “no military solution”, Tenenti added.
UNIFIL said at least five UN peacekeepers had been wounded during the fighting in southern Lebanon in two days. Tenenti said “a lot of damage” had been caused to its posts there.
According to reports, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a call on Saturday that UNIFIL must not be targeted.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said its fighters detonated an explosive device and clashed in gun battles with Israeli forces who tried to infiltrate Ramyah village in southern Lebanon. The group said on social media it inflicted deaths among the Israelis and that fighting was continuing around the village.
Israel says some 300 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel in the last 24 hours.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 1,645 people have been killed since Israel escalated attacks on Lebanon in September, while a total of 2,255 have now died after a year of fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli forces.