Five siblings among the dead in Israeli strikes in Lebanon

An Israeli air strike on the southern port city of Tyre has left at least seven dead, among them five siblings, three of whom were deaf and mute, officials said.

The rise in Tyre’s death toll came as Israel’s air force carried out air strikes on different parts of southern and eastern Lebanon, hours after Beirut’s southern suburbs were pounded by jets, destroying several buildings, state media reported.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said it fired dozens of rockets on northern Israel and shot down a drone over south Lebanon. The group said that Israel’s air force struck the area where the drone crashed.

The health ministry said the strikes on Tyre on Friday night also wounded 46 people. It added that remains also were found in rubble and DNA tests will be used to identify the victims.

Youssef Jundi, a Tyre resident, told The Associated Press that the air strikes destroyed several buildings in the coastal city.

He said that his long-time neighbour and friend, Ghazwa Dabouk, was among those killed. That person’s sisters Elissar, Rabab and Fidaa, who were deaf and mute, were also killed in the air strike, together with a brother Ali, who was autistic.

The Israeli military said it attacked the Tyre offices of Hezbollah’s intelligence department as well as a command and control center for the group in the city.

More than 3,000 people were killed in Lebanon during the 13 months of the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel the day after Hamas’ surprise attack into Israel on October 7 2023, ignited the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both allied with Iran.

For nearly a year, the conflict was mostly contained to the areas along the border between Israel and Lebanon.

The conflict dramatically escalated on September 23 with intense Israeli air strikes on south and east Lebanon as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs, leaving hundreds dead and leading to the displacement of nearly 1.2 million people.

Israel began a ground invasion of south Lebanon on October 1, causing wide destruction in border villages but making little advances on the ground inside Lebanon. Israel says it is destroying Hezbollah weapons and command centres near the border, including an extensive tunnel system built by Hezbollah.