Israel strikes southern Lebanon, killing 14 after fire exchange with Iran

Israeli forces launched airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 14 people and wounding dozens. This action came after Iran warned of 'crushing measures' if Israel persisted with its offensive campaign against the country.

Monday's attacks occurred after Iran and Israel exchanged fire in the largest escalation since the April 8 ceasefire. The crisis erupted following an Israeli strike on Lebanon's capital Beirut on Sunday.

According to Lebanon's National News Agency, an Israeli airstrike near the Red Cross center in the coastal city of Tyre (southern Lebanon) killed five people and wounded eight, including four medical workers. The bombing also damaged a UNESCO World Heritage site in Tyre, prompting local authorities to advise residents still in the city to avoid large gatherings.

Further north, an Israeli airstrike on al-Marwaniyah in Sidon district killed two people, including a child. Ten others were wounded, including four women. A third airstrike on Zefta in Nabatieh district left seven dead and eight wounded. Among the victims were a Syrian child and a woman. Israeli artillery also shelled the nearby village of Touline.

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which is engaged in combat with Israeli forces that have encroached into southern Lebanon, announced it had carried out 16 operations against Israeli forces, including near the strategic Beaufort Castle. The group said it had targeted and destroyed two Israeli military bulldozers in the village of Yohmor al-Shaqif near the castle and struck multiple concentrations of enemy troops. Hezbollah also claimed to have intercepted an Israeli drone operating over the airspace of Iqlim al-Tuffah.

Lebanon has been drawn into the US-Israeli war against Iran since March 2, when Hezbollah (an ally of Tehran) fired rockets into northern Israel, citing ongoing Israeli attacks on its country and the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on February 28. While the US and Iran reached a ceasefire agreement on April 8, Israel has not halted its operations in Lebanon, insisting the two fronts are separate. Iran has long maintained that any peace deal with Washington must include an end to hostilities in Lebanon.

Announcing the end of its strikes on Israel on Monday, the Iranian military warned that continued aggression — including in southern Lebanon — would be met with 'much more serious and crushing measures.' However, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz dismissed this warning, vowing to continue operations against Hezbollah and strike Beirut's southern suburbs in response to any attack on northern Israel. 'Any attempt by Iran to link Lebanon and Iran and attack Israel will be met with great force,' he said.

Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Monday that Israel had carried out nearly 3,500 airstrikes, 407 demolition operations, and six 'flattening' campaigns — razing entire villages — since April 16. Lebanon's Health Ministry said the total death toll from Israel's offensive since March 2 has reached 3,637, with 11,188 wounded. Over one million people, a fifth of Lebanon's population, have been displaced. Prime Minister Salam's office said government shelters 'have reached maximum capacity in Beirut, Sidon, and all other areas.'

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned that the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon is worsening, with 94% of displaced people struggling to meet basic needs. Rick Bartoldus, IRC's country director in Lebanon, said many returnees to southern Lebanon are finding their homes or entire villages destroyed. 'The humanitarian needs are massive, and if we have any hope of recovery, we need to see a lasting ceasefire,' he told Al Jazeera.