Israel bombarded Lebanon with more than 120 airstrikes on Tuesday in one of the heaviest days of bombing in weeks, Lebanese security sources said, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his army was stepping up its operations in the country.
The bombings further worsened a ceasefire announced on April 16 that was meant to end fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and came as Iran said the US had violated a separate accord by attacking southern Iran.
Lebanese security sources told Reuters that Israeli strikes hit southern and eastern Lebanon on Tuesday.
Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli attacks in recent hours have killed 31 people and wounded 40, state news agency NNA reported early Wednesday.
It said 14 people were killed in the city of Burj al-Shamali in southern Lebanon, including two children and three women.
Some of the attacks occurred near Beaufort Castle, a nearly 900-year-old fortress in southern Lebanon that UNESCO has described as one of the best-preserved examples of medieval castles in the region. At least three strikes also hit near Lebanon’s largest water reservoir at the Qaraoun Dam in eastern Lebanon, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.
