Israel strikes residential areas, destroys homes in southern Lebanon

Lebanon is witnessing not just a displacement crisis, the UN says, but a rapidly developing food security crisis.

Israel has launched more than 50 strikes across Lebanon in the past 24 hours, raising fears that the escalating violence could unravel the fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran, reigniting a broader regional conflict.

Lebanon’s National News Agency said an Israeli air strike on the southern town of Hanawya killed one person and wounded another on Friday. The agency also reported that Israeli forces destroyed residential areas in Aita al-Shaab, with additional strikes on al-Majadel in the Tyre district.

Al Jazeera’s team on the ground reported that Israeli forces blew up homes in the town of Haneen in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese group Hezbollah responded by firing rockets towards settlements in northern Israel, including Kiryat Shmona, Metula and Misgav Am. In a statement posted on Telegram, fighters said “these attacks would continue until the Israeli-American aggression against the country and the people stopped”.

Despite the escalation in the south, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reported a relative lull in Beirut, following Israel’s large-scale assault on Wednesday. It killed at least 300 people and wounded about 1,000 others.