Seven people have been killed and more than 40 injured in Israeli airstrikes on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Saturday, as Israel rejected claims that famine is looming in northern Gaza.
Rescuers continued to search for victims in the rubble, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, an airstrike on Deir Qanoun Ras al-Ain in Tire district killed eight people, including seven paramedics, and injured 12 others, the ministry said.
The raids targeted meetings of paramedics from associations linked to Hezbollah, the ministry added.
The Lebanese State News Agency (NNA) also reported a dozen heavy airstrikes in the southern outskirts of the capital Beirut overnight, following Israeli evacuation warnings.
The reports came after the Israeli military said it had “hit command centers and a weapons production site, along with additional terrorist infrastructure belonging to the terrorist organization Hezbollah” in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh, which is considered a stronghold of the Iran-backed militia.
Lebanese authorities have recorded more than 670 Israeli airstrikes across the country in the past seven days, killing more than 230 people and injuring more than 800, according to the Health Ministry.
The count does not distinguish between civilians and members of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire since the October 7, 2023, attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, with Israeli forces launching a ground offensive in southern Lebanon in late September this year.
More deaths in Gaza due to famine disputes
The Israeli assault on northern Gaza also continued on Saturday, with Palestinian sources reporting at least 11 deaths in attacks on Gaza City and Beit Hanoun.
Medical organizations in the closed coastal area said five people were killed in Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya neighborhood while waiting for help.
The humanitarian situation in northern Gaza has deteriorated significantly in recent weeks due to a renewed Israeli offensive, with one resident telling dpa on Saturday: “Nobody cares about us.”
“We don’t know if we will survive,” Om Mohammed said.
A group of global food security experts have warned that famine is likely in northern Gaza.
However, the Israeli military has rejected the claims, arguing that 11 trucks carrying food, water and medical equipment have arrived in the area in recent days.
According to the report, the aid was intended for the remaining civilians in Beit Hanoun and the Jabalia refugee camp, where there was heavy fighting.
During the latest fighting, Israeli ground forces “eliminated dozens of terrorists” and destroyed “a weapons cache” in Jabalia in northern Gaza, according to an Israeli military post on Telegram.
Israeli attacks were also reported from the southern city of Rafah, where forces targeted militants and “terrorist infrastructure.”
At least 43,000 Palestinians have been killed so far in the ongoing war, which began after Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people in Israel and abducted another 250 to Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza.
Palestinians murdered in the West Bank
Also on Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said Israeli forces killed a 25-year-old Palestinian man in the West Bank, adding that the Israeli army has not yet released his body.
According to Palestinian media, Israeli soldiers surrounded the man’s family home during the raid.
Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Israeli forces shot dead the man, while another was seriously injured from gunshot wounds to the chest.
The Israeli army said it had killed a terrorist in the operation.
The tense situation in the occupied West Bank has deteriorated dramatically since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Israeli military operations, armed clashes and attacks by extremists have since killed 746 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the local health ministry.
