Israeli military drone strikes hit seven vehicles across Lebanon on Wednesday, killing 12 people including a woman and her two children, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. The attacks, which came as cross-border fire continued to violate a three-week-old ceasefire, deepen the toll of a conflict that has now killed nearly 2,900 people in Lebanon, according to ministry figures.
The deadliest strikes targeted vehicles on the coastal highway south of Beirut, including near the towns of Barja and Jiyeh and on the highway linking Beirut to the southern port city of Sidon. Eight people died in those strikes, including the mother and children, the ministry said. An Associated Press photographer saw the bodies of three people killed in two of the strikes.
The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon, hours after warning residents of six villages there to evacuate.
Hezbollah said it launched additional attacks on Israeli forces, as both sides have continued exchanging fire despite a ceasefire brokered by the United States on April 17.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, reported that a presumed Hezbollah drone detonated inside its headquarters in the coastal town of Naqoura on Tuesday, following earlier drone incidents this week. No one was injured but some buildings were damaged. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged both sides to observe the ceasefire and stop all attacks, deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said.
The latest war began on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after the United States and Israel attacked Iran. The Lebanese Health Ministry said Wednesday that 2,896 people have been killed and 8,824 wounded in Lebanon since the conflict erupted.
Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold another round of direct talks in Washington on Thursday, as the Trump administration pushes for a breakthrough between the two neighbors that have been in a state of war since Israel was created in 1948.