Lebanon says Israeli strike on army barracks wounded soldier

BEIRUT - Lebanon’s military said an Israeli strike on May 23 targeted an army barracks in the south, wounding a soldier, despite a ceasefire in the war between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.

Israel kept up strikes on Lebanon on May 23, hours after overnight raids on the country’s south and east, including one that damaged a hospital.

It also issued two evacuation warnings covering 15 south Lebanon villages ahead of further strikes there.

Israel’s military has been pounding Lebanon despite an April 17 ceasefire, which was recently extended for several weeks.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah has kept up attacks on Israeli targets in south Lebanon and in northern Israel, including targeting Israeli air defence platforms across the border on May 23.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported no-warning Israeli air strikes on around a dozen locations in the south.

The army said “a soldier was moderately wounded due to the hostile Israeli targeting of an army barracks in the city of Nabatieh”.

A day earlier, Lebanon’s military said its soldiers were loyal to the institution after the United States announced sanctions this week that included an officer accused of sharing information with Hezbollah.

The NNA said an overnight strike in the southern city of Tyre that targeted a site near the hospital caused “severe damage” to the facility.

An AFP correspondent saw shattered glass, ceiling panels blown out and damaged medical equipment at the multi-storey Hiram hospital.

The Israeli military late on the night of May 22 had issued evacuation warnings ahead of strikes on two locations in Tyre.

Accompanying maps advised people to leave areas within 500m of the target buildings, with the Hiram hospital shown within the advised evacuation area.

The hospital’s CEO Dr Salman Aydibi told AFP that around 40 patients were in the facility when the warning was issued, including seven in intensive care.

“We took the patients to a safer location” elsewhere inside the hospital, he said, adding that none were harmed but some 30 staff sustained minor injuries.

He said the damage was being evaluated and that the hospital has remained operational, though the emergency department briefly closed.

He said it was the third strike near the facility since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on March 2.

Israel’s army said on May 23 that it had targeted “Hezbollah infrastructure sites in Tyre” overnight, adding that “prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians”.

Another AFP correspondent saw heavy damage at both targeted sites in Tyre.

“I don’t know what happened, it felt like doomsday,” said Ms Wisam Baroud, who lives near one of the sites.

“We quickly got dressed, rushed outside, and started running,” said Ms Baroud, showing damage to her home including rubble on beds and damaged cupboards.

Israel’s army also targeted east Lebanon overnight, saying it struck a “Hezbollah underground compound” used to manufacture weapons.

Lebanon’s Hamas-aligned Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya and its armed wing the Al-Fajr Forces said on May 23 in a statement that one of its members was killed in an Israeli strike in east Lebanon.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.

Under the terms of the ceasefire published by Washington, Israel reserves the right to act against “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks”.

Israeli troops who invaded Lebanon are also operating inside an Israeli-announced “yellow line” running around 10km deep along Lebanon’s southern border. AFP