Israeli strikes pound Lebanon; toll 2,546

Israel kept up its bombing of Lebanon Tuesday after a late night strike that killed 18 people near a Beirut hospital, state media reported, as its war on Hezbollah approached the one-month mark.

The Israeli aggression on Lebanon, which has been ongoing since October of last year, has killed 2,546 people, injured 11,862 others, and forced thousands to flee their villages and farms.

The official National News Agency said four strikes hit Beirut’s embattled southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.

One raid in the Ghobeiri area levelled an 11-storey apartment complex.

In the country’s south, the Lebanese Red Cross said three paramedics were wounded in a strike on Nabatiyeh as they carried out a rescue mission in coordination with UN peacekeepers.

The strikes on Nabatiyeh created a “belt of fire,” with scores of residential buildings, shops and cafes wiped out in “less than 30 seconds”, NNA said, calling it the heaviest Israeli bombardment of the city since the start of the war.

The Israeli army also bombed Al-Hawsh, just south of the southern city of Tyre, NNA said.

Tuesday’s bombardment followed heavy shelling the previous day that killed a total of 63 people and wounded 234, according to health ministry figures.

The strike came after Israel accused Hezbollah on Monday of storing money in a bunker under the nearby Sahel Hospital.

Last month, Israel expanded the scope of its war from Gaza to Lebanon, vowing to keep fighting Hezbollah until it secures its northern border to allow for the return of people displaced by rocket fire.