People check a building damaged by an Israeli airstrike at dawn in Sir al-Gharbiyeh, Lebanon on March 8, 2026. Lebanon's official National News Agency said Israeli warplanes carried out a dawn airstrike on the town of Sir al-Gharbiyeh in the Nabatieh district, hitting a three-story building and killing 19 people. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)
BEIRUT, March 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 40 people were killed and an unspecified number wounded early Sunday in Israeli airstrikes targeting dozens of homes, government institutions and shops in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese security and official sources.
Lebanon's official National News Agency said Israeli warplanes carried out a dawn airstrike on the town of Sir al-Gharbiyeh in the Nabatieh district, hitting a three-story building and killing 19 people.
Civil defense and ambulance teams were still working to clear rubble and retrieve bodies, the agency said.
Sources from Lebanon's Internal Security Forces and the Lebanese Civil Defense told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes and drones carried out 23 airstrikes during the early morning hours on towns and villages across southern Lebanon.
According to the Public Health Emergency Operations Center, an Israeli strike on the village of Khirbet Selm in the Bint Jbeil district killed six people and wounded five others, while another strike on the village of Teffahta killed five.
National News Agency also reported that three people were killed in an airstrike targeting a cafe in Jbal El Botm, four were killed in a strike on Qana, and three others died in a strike on Aaitit.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Resistance, the armed wing of Hezbollah, said in several statements that it had targeted Israeli forces and repelled attempts to advance "in response to the aggression that targeted dozens of Lebanese cities and towns, including Beirut's southern suburbs."
The death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon since dawn Monday and Saturday afternoon has risen to 294, with over 1,000 people injured, according to public health data out of Lebanon on Saturday.
Hezbollah said it launched rockets from Lebanon toward Israel early Monday for the first time since a ceasefire was declared on Nov. 27, 2024.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it had launched an "offensive military campaign" against Hezbollah, carrying out airstrikes across multiple areas in Lebanon and ground incursions near the border, while warning residents to evacuate areas south of the Litani River and Beirut's southern suburbs. ■
People check a building damaged by an Israeli airstrike at dawn in Sir al-Gharbiyeh, Lebanon on March 8, 2026. Lebanon's official National News Agency said Israeli warplanes carried out a dawn airstrike on the town of Sir al-Gharbiyeh in the Nabatieh district, hitting a three-story building and killing 19 people. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)
This photo taken on March 8, 2026 shows a building damaged by an Israeli airstrike at dawn in Sir al-Gharbiyeh, Lebanon. Lebanon's official National News Agency said Israeli warplanes carried out a dawn airstrike on the town of Sir al-Gharbiyeh in the Nabatieh district, hitting a three-story building and killing 19 people. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)
