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-Risala 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 World Health Organization 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 said it struck several Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the area of Hanouiyeh where Hezbollah members were present.
It said that it is examining the claim that several uninvolved individuals in the area, who were not the targets of the strike, were harmed, adding that in the area of the strike, steps were taken to evacuate the population. Before the strikes, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance, according to the military.
The army added that Israeli soldiers identified a Hezbollah member traveling on a motorcycle in the area of Deir Qanoun al Nahr and following the identification, the military struck the member in order to remove the threat.
It said that shortly afterward, Israeli soldiers identified in the same area an additional Hezbollah member moving on a motorcycle and struck him.
The Israeli military 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.
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Associated Press writer Sam Mednick contributed to this report from Tel Aviv, Israel.