Israeli airstrikes kill at least 13 in southern Lebanon

ISTANBUL (AA) – At least 13 people were killed in overnight airstrikes staged by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon, local media reported on Wednesday.

Fighter jets struck a home in Maarakeh town, killing two people, the state news agency NNA reported.

Two airstrikes in Kfar Melki and Zefta towns left at least four people dead, the broadcaster said.

Three more people lost their lives in another attack in Ain Qana and four others in the village of Habbouch, the news agency said.

Airstrikes and artillery shelling were also reported in Dibbine, Kafr Rumman Rihan, Shebaa, Ghandouriyeh, and Kafr Tebnit, but no information was yet available about injuries.

NNA said that the Israeli army was trying to advance into Kafrchouba hills in southern Lebanon amid fierce clashes with the Hezbollah resistance fighters.

The Israeli attacks occurred as US envoy Amos Hochstein held talks with Lebanese officials in Beirut to reach a cease-fire deal between Israel and Lebanon.

Hochstein said following his talks with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri earlier on Tuesday that a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah to end the war on Lebanon was “within our grasp.”

The US, Israel’s main ally, is mediating between Tel Aviv and Beirut to reach a cease-fire deal to end more than a year of Israeli strikes on Lebanon, ostensibly against alleged Hezbollah targets.

Israel launched an air campaign in late September against what it claims are ‘Hezbollah targets.’

More than 3,500 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Lebanon, with nearly 15,000 injured and more than a million displaced since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Tel Aviv chose to expand the ongoing war on Gaza by launching a ground assault into southern Lebanon on October 1 this year.