BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, March 13 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people were killed and several others wounded late Thursday night and Friday morning in Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported Friday.
Also, Israeli warplanes carried out an overnight strike on the Tayr Falsay bridge over the Litani River, severing the link between its southern and northern areas, the NNA reported.
The bridge connects the districts of Tyre, Bint Jbeil, Nabatieh, and Zahrani, making it strategically important. A Lebanese army checkpoint is at the bridge, with a UN Interim Force in Lebanon post about 300 meters away.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday that it struck a key bridge over the Litani River in southern Lebanon in the morning, alleging the bridge was used by Hezbollah militants to pass from northern to southern Lebanon "to build up its power and prepare for combat."
The IDF claimed that recently, Hezbollah has placed rocket launchers near the bridge and carried out launches from there toward Israel.
The IDF also said that it completed a series of strikes against Hezbollah's economic and military targets in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, and other areas on Thursday.
In Beirut, the IDF said it struck assets of the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Qard Al-Hasan Association and other major financial assets of Hezbollah, which the Israeli army claimed that Hezbollah uses to provide financial services and advance "terrorist" activity.
The IDF said it also struck around 10 Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the Bekaa Valley and areas in southern Lebanon.
Since the launch of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran on Feb. 28, tensions between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have sharply escalated, with Hezbollah firing rocket barrages at northern Israeli communities and Israel striking sites in southern and eastern Lebanon, which it says house Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure. ■
