BEIRUT (AP) — Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon Friday killed 10 people, including six paramedics and a Syrian girl, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said, the latest in near-daily attacks from both sides that have not stopped despite the fragile, U.S.-brokered ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The first strike hit the village of Hanouiyeh, killing four paramedics working for Hezbollah’s Islamic Health Association and wounding two others including
one paramedic, the ministry said.
Another strike Friday morning on the village of Deir Qanoun al Nahr in the coastal Tyre province killed six people, including a Syrian child and two paramedics from the Al-Rissala Scouts Association, a paramedic group affiliated with Hezbollah’s ally, the Amal movement, the ministry said. An additional six people were injured, including three paramedics and a Syrian woman.
The Health Ministry said the two attacks “violated” international law.
On Thursday, the U.N. World Health Organization, WHO, reported 169 confirmed attacks on healthcare workers and facilities in Lebanon, resulting in 116 deaths, since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began.
The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment. It has previously accused the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group of using ambulances as cover for militant activities, without offering evidence.
The attacks by Israel and Hezbollah have continued despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
Earlier this week, Lebanon's Health Ministry said that the death toll in the latest round of fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon surpassed 3,000.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2, after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel two days after the U.S. and Israel started their attacks on Iran, a main backer of the militant Lebanese group.
Also Friday, the Lebanese army and the General Security Directorate issued statements declaring that their officers are disciplined, professional and loyal solely to their institutions and the nation.
The statements came a day after the U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on a group of Hezbollah-affiliated legislators, state security officials and allies of the militant group for allegedly seeking to preserve the Iran-backed group’s influence over Lebanese state institutions and obstruct disarmament efforts.
It was the first time Washington has sanctioned sitting Lebanese state security officials, one from the country’s General Security Directorate and the other from the military intelligence, both of them accused of providing Hezbollah with “illicit support” and intelligence during the ongoing conflict.
