BEIRUT, April 12 (Xinhua) -- At least 24 people were killed and dozens wounded in Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon overnight on Saturday, according to local authorities.
In the village of Teffahta in the Sidon district, the death toll from Israeli strikes rose to 13, Lebanon's National News Agency reported. In the al-Khashna area of the town of Qana, five people were killed and several others wounded after airstrikes hit residential homes and infrastructure, with civil defense teams transporting the injured to hospitals in the coastal city of Tyre.
In the town of Maaroub, an airstrike on a house left six people dead and hit a family of more than seven, causing multiple casualties.
Israeli warplanes also launched dawn airstrikes Sunday on multiple sites, including the towns of Aaitat, Samaya, Mahrouna, Maarakeh, and Khiam's Jallahiya neighborhood, where three people were wounded and taken to Tyre's Hiram Hospital, local officials said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it launched a series of retaliatory attacks targeting Israeli military positions. In separate statements, the group said it fired rocket salvos at gatherings of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles in several areas, including in and around the town of Bint Jbeil, the municipality of Rshaf, and Khiam, as well as the Fatima Gate border crossing.
Hezbollah also said it launched attack drones at the Kiryat Shmona barracks, targeted a Merkava tank in the Awaida hill area in the village of Adaisseh with a direct hit, and fired rockets at Israeli troop positions in the Tahrir Triangle area.
The escalation comes amid continued cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces. ■
