BEIRUT — At least 13 people were killed and several others were injured on Wednesday in Israeli airstrikes targeting multiple areas in southern Lebanon while Hezbollah unleashed intense rocket barrages on northern Israel, hours after Lebanon and Israel agreed to hold direct negotiations, state media reported. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the strikes hit two vehicles, one in the seafront town of Saadiyat and another on a coastal highway in neighboring Jiyeh, around 20 kilometerssouth of Beirut and outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds. NNA also reported several other strikes across southern Lebanon. Civil Defense teams and the Islamic Risala Scout Association recovered four bodies and rescued three wounded from the rubble after an airstrike hit the Al-Khodra complex in the Qadmous area, according to the news agency. In the town of Ansariyeh, five people were killed in a dawn strike, the agency reported.Three more people were injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting the Abbasiya area of Tyre district, it added. In the town of Jbaa of Nabatieh district, an Israeli airstrike on a home killed a man, his wife, and their two children, according to the agency. Another Israeli attack struck a vehicle in the Saadiyat area in Mount Lebanon, it added.Israel’s military also issued a fresh evacuation order for residents of south Lebanon. “The airstrikes are ongoing as the Israel Defense Forces operate with significant force in the area. Therefore… we reiterate our urgent appeal for you to evacuate your homes immediately and head north of the Zahrani River,” it said in a statement. The Israeli military meanwhile said it had detected “approximately 30 launches” by Hezbollah militants toward Israel since the early hours, a spokesman told AFP. Hezbollah said it launched rockets at 10 northern Israeli areas. The attacks come a day after Lebanon and Israel’s ambassadors to the United States held their first direct talks in decades in Washington and agreed to hold further direct negotiations, with the Lebanese envoy calling for a ceasefire.Hezbollah strongly rejected the talks. The talks, the first direct diplomatic engagement between the two countries in more than 30 years, came as Israel continues an air and ground offensive in southern Lebanon, killing more than 2,000 people and displacing a million others. Israel began striking Hezbollah after the group retaliated to US-Israeli attacks on Iran in early March. — AgenciesBEIRUT — At least 13 people were killed and several others were injured on Wednesday in Israeli airstrikes targeting multiple areas in southern Lebanon while Hezbollah unleashed intense rocket barrages on northern Israel, hours after Lebanon and Israel agreed to hold direct negotiations, state media reported. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the strikes hit two vehicles, one in the seafront town of Saadiyat and another on a coastal highway in neighboring Jiyeh, around 20 kilometerssouth of Beirut and outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds. NNA also reported several other strikes across southern Lebanon. Civil Defense teams and the Islamic Risala Scout Association recovered four bodies and rescued three wounded from the rubble after an airstrike hit the Al-Khodra complex in the Qadmous area, according to the news agency. In the town of Ansariyeh, five people were killed in a dawn strike, the agency reported.Three more people were injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting the Abbasiya area of Tyre district, it added. In the town of Jbaa of Nabatieh district, an Israeli airstrike on a home killed a man, his wife, and their two children, according to the agency. Another Israeli attack struck a vehicle in the Saadiyat area in Mount Lebanon, it added.Israel’s military also issued a fresh evacuation order for residents of south Lebanon. “The airstrikes are ongoing as the Israel Defense Forces operate with significant force in the area. Therefore… we reiterate our urgent appeal for you to evacuate your homes immediately and head north of the Zahrani River,” it said in a statement. The Israeli military meanwhile said it had detected “approximately 30 launches” by Hezbollah militants toward Israel since the early hours, a spokesman told AFP. Hezbollah said it launched rockets at 10 northern Israeli areas. The attacks come a day after Lebanon and Israel’s ambassadors to the United States held their first direct talks in decades in Washington and agreed to hold further direct negotiations, with the Lebanese envoy calling for a ceasefire.Hezbollah strongly rejected the talks. The talks, the first direct diplomatic engagement between the two countries in more than 30 years, came as Israel continues an air and ground offensive in southern Lebanon, killing more than 2,000 people and displacing a million others. Israel began striking Hezbollah after the group retaliated to US-Israeli attacks on Iran in early March. — Agencies
