40 killed as Israel pounds Lebanon

At least 40 people, including several children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon over the last day after heavy Israeli bombardment pounded the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut overnight.

At least seven people were killed on Saturday in the coastal city of Tyre late on Friday, Lebanon's health ministry said. The Israeli military has previously ordered swathes of the city to evacuate, but there were no orders published by the Israeli military spokesperson on social media platform X before Friday's strikes.

Two children were among the dead. Rescue operations were ongoing and other body parts retrieved in the aftermath of the attack would undergo DNA testing to identify them, the ministry said.

Strikes in nearby towns on Saturday killed 13 people, including seven medics from rescue groups affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally Amal, the health ministry said.

At least 20 more people were killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday across the eastern plains around the historic city of Baalbek, the health ministry said.

Source: Reuters