Israeli Strikes Kill At Least 12 Lebanese Rescuers and 15 People in Syria

Beirut: An Israeli airstrike killed at least 12 Lebanese rescue workers on Thursday inside a civil defence centre in eastern city of Baalbek, according to health and rescue officials, hours after state media in Syria said Israeli strikes in and around capital killed at least 15 people.

Lebanese emergency workers were digging through rubble Thursday evening to search for more of ir colleagues still trapped under destroyed rescue centre, group said in a statement. At least three civil defence members were wounded.

re was no immediate comment from Israeli military. Lebanon's civil defence forces have no affiliation with militant group Hezbollah, and y provide crucial rescue and medical services in one of world's most war-torn nations.

Health Ministry condemned what it called a "barbaric attack on a Lebanese state-run health centre", ding that “it is second Israeli attack on a health emergency facility in less than two hours.” In sourn Lebanon, an Israeli strike on Arabsalim village targeted Health Authority Association, a civil defense and rescue group linked to Hezbollah, killing six people, including four paramedics, Health Ministry said.

Earlier, Israel carried out at least two airstrikes on western Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus and one of suburbs of Syria's capital, Qudsaya, killing at least 15 and wounding anor 16, Syria's state news agency said. An Associated Press journalist at scene in Mazzeh said that a five-story building was damaged by a missile that hit basement.

Israeli military said it hit infrastructure sites and command centres of Islamic Jih militant group.

In Syria, an official with Palestinian Islamic Jih said strike in Mazzeh targeted one of ir offices, and several members were killed. official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to media.

airstrikes came shortly before Ali Larijani, an viser to Iran's supreme leer Ali Khamenei, was scheduled to meet in Syrian capital with representatives of Palestinian factions at Iranian Embassy in Mazzeh.

Israel's military says Islamic Jih participated alongside Palestinian militant group Hamas in Oct. 7, 2023 attacks from Gaza into Israel that killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and saw 250 ors abducted.

ensuing Israel-Hamas war has spilled into wider region, affecting Lebanon, Syria and leing to strikes between Israel and Iran. war has left much of Gaza in ruins and has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to local health authorities who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Israeli warplanes intensified airstrikes in Lebanon on Thursday, targeting various areas in sourn and eastern Lebanon, including outskirts of sourn port city of Tyre and Nabatieh province, National News Agency said.

Throughout day, sporic airstrikes targeted Beirut's sourn suburbs in a clear uptick in attacks on district over past two days, with Israeli military issuing evacuation warnings for several locations and buildings in suburbs.

Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh area, including weapons storage facilities and command centers. Military spokesman Rear m. Daniel Hagari said that over past week, Israel h “struck more than 300 targets from air across Lebanon, including about 40 targets in heart of Dahiyeh in Beirut.” Lebanon's state media said an earlier Israeli airstrike hit a building in Baalbek, killing at least nine people and wounding five ors. strike came without warning. Israeli military did not immediately comment and target was unclear.

A report by World Bank on Thursday estimated that Lebanon has suffered USD 8.5 billion in physical damages and economic losses from 13 months of war.

Hezbollah began firing into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. Since n, Israeli strikes and bombardment in Lebanon have killed at least 3,380 people while number of wounded has surpassed 14,400, Health Ministry said Thursday. Among de were 658 women and 220 children.

In Israel, 76 people have been killed, including 31 soldiers.

Before war intensified on Sept. 23, Hezbollah said that it h lost nearly 500 members but group has stopped releasing statements about ir killed fighters since.

United Nations peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix, speaking during a visit to Lebanon, said U.N. remains committed to keeping its peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, in place in all of its positions in sourn Lebanon, despite intense ongoing battles between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants.

UNIFIL has continued to monitor escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah across boundary known as Blue Line despite Israeli calls for peacekeepers to pull back 5 kilometers (3 miles) from border. UNIFIL has accused Israel of deliberately destroying observation equipment, and 13 peacekeepers have been injured in fighting.

Separately, Israeli media reported Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, has been questioned by police over suspicion of altering official records connected to Oct. 7 Hamas attacks to benefit his boss.

Multiple reports said Braverman is suspected of changing time stamp of a conversation Netanyahu held with his military secretary in first minutes of attack. reports were confirmed by an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to ongoing investigation.

Netanyahu's office h no immediate comment. It was not immediately clear why Braverman me change.

(Except for heline, this story has not been edited by Republic and is published from a syndicated feed.)