Israel targets civil defense teams rescuing victims in southern Lebanon

ISTANBUL (AA) – Lebanese civil defense teams came under fire while looking for people trapped under rubble of buildings destroyed by Israel, local media said.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency said Israeli artillery shelling targeted civil defense teams in Naqoura while searching the rubble of destroyed buildings in the area.

The teams were forced to leave the area after Israeli forces detonated an explosive-laden drone nearby, NNA said.

There was no comment from the Israeli army on the report.

Early Thursday, civil defense teams recovered the bodies of 16 people from under the rubble in the southern towns of Shama, Biyyadah, and Naqoura.

On November 27, a cease-fire deal between Israel and Lebanon came into force in the hope of ending 14 months of fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah. It is, however, described as fragile, as over 130 Israeli violations were documented by Lebanon.

Under the terms of the cease-fire, Israel is to withdraw its forces south of the Blue Line de facto border in a phased manner while the Lebanese army deploys its forces in southern Lebanon within a maximum of 60 days.

Implementation of the agreement is to be overseen by the US and France, but details on enforcement mechanisms remain unclear.

Over 4,000 people have been killed and more than 16,500 injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon and over 1 million others have been displaced since October 2023, according to Lebanese health authorities.