BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry reported that at least eight people were killed and 25 others injured on Sunday in an Israeli airstrike near the southern city of Sidon. An AFP correspondent noted that the strike targeted a building in a densely-populated suburb of Sidon, where many families displaced from further south had sought refuge.
This marked the first airstrike in the Sidon area since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began last month.
“The Israeli enemy’s raid on Haret Saida resulted in a… toll of eight killed,” the health ministry confirmed, updating an earlier count that reported two dead.
The official National News Agency reported that a child was among the victims. According to the AFP correspondent, the strike destroyed an apartment within a three-story residential building and damaged nearby shops and buildings. Paramedics were at the scene, working to locate survivors.
The Israeli military had issued evacuation warnings for several areas in southern Lebanon on Sunday; however, Haret Saida was not on the list of areas designated for targeting.
Since the conflict erupted on September 23, at least 1,615 people have died in Lebanon, based on health ministry data compiled by AFP. However, the actual death toll may be higher due to incomplete records.
The war has displaced over 1.3 million people, with more than 800,000 displaced internally, according to the UN’s migration agency. Additionally, Lebanese authorities report that more than half a million people, most of them Syrian, have fled across the borderinto Syria.