At least 12 killed in latest Israeli attacks on Lebanon 

At least 12 people have been killed, including a child, in southern Lebanon, as Israel continues its strikes despite a ceasefire.

Israeli forces killed at least eight people in Habboush in the Nabatieh district on Friday, and wounded at least eight others, including another child and a woman.

The Lebanese Civilian Defence searched through the rubble of the “massive set of air strikes that destroyed a residential neighbourhood”, Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto reported from the southern Lebanese city of Tyre. “The footage coming out of there is really dramatic, with buildings completely flattened.”

“We keep seeing this same kind of strategy throughout the country,” Hitto added. “There were strikes that killed and injured many other people in at least six other locations in southern Lebanon today, including women and children.”

Another four people were reported killed in other attacks near Tyre and Nabatieh, the country’s National News Agency reported. Israel also demolished houses, a convent and a school on Friday.

Israel issued a forced evacuation order to residents in Habboush on Friday, which is located north of the Litani River. The military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, told people to immediately move at least 1,000 metres away in a post on social media before strikes struck the village. It also attacked the town a day earlier without giving any warning.

At least 28 people were reported killed in Lebanon on Thursday.

Israel has claimed that its attacks target the pro-Iran Lebanese group Hezbollah, but a large proportion of those killed have been civilians.

Hezbollah continued attacks on Israeli forces and vehicles inside Lebanon, saying it targeted a Merkava tank and other vehicles, as well as soldiers in Sour. Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon, which it calls a buffer zone.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health’s Emergency Operations Center reported on Friday that 2,618 people have been killed and 8,094 wounded since hostilities began on March 2. The death toll continues to climb despite the US-brokered ceasefire that was announced on April 17 and has been extended to May 17.

Israel and Hezbollah began attacking each other in the wake of the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, before Israel intensified its attacks in September 2024, killing the movement’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.

A ceasefire followed in November 2024, which was violated by Israel more than 10,000 times. Hezbollah began attacking Israel again on March 2, following the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by the US and Israel.