Israel's air strikes on southern Lebanon village kill 12, including medics

Israeli air strikes on a village in southern Lebanon have killed at least 12 people, including a paramedic and three children, according to Lebanese health authorities. The strikes, which hit two targets in the town of Kfar Roummane in the Nabatieh district, came amid a fresh wave of Israeli military operations near the strip of territory it has declared a 'security zone'.

The first attack shortly after midnight destroyed a three-storey residential building near the town's Shuyuiya roundabout, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported. The health ministry said 11 people were killed and eight others wounded, among them three children and a paramedic from the Islamic Health Association, an emergency service affiliated with Hezbollah.

A second strike hit a vehicle carrying medics from the Islamic Risala Scout Association, an emergency unit linked to the Amal movement, a Shia group allied to Hezbollah. One paramedic was killed and two others were injured, the ministry said.

Kfar Roummane is situated a few hundred metres from a zone occupied by Israeli troops inside Lebanon. In a statement, the health ministry described the deaths as 'further irrefutable evidence of the grave violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Israeli occupation, targeting medics and children'.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the specific strikes. It has repeatedly said it targets Hezbollah positions and accuses the group of embedding fighters and weapons among civilians, an allegation Hezbollah denies.

Sara Moallaem, a 35-year-old resident of Kfar Roummane, told the BBC she was asleep with her five children in a rented home when the explosions began. She rushed them into a 'safe room' and waited for the blasts to subside. Some of those killed were distant relatives of her husband, she said, and were civilians with no affiliation to Hezbollah.

'During the day, it is almost normal, with people going back and forth. But as it comes near the night, things escalate, and now my children are afraid. I am packing now for the sixth or seventh time. It is terrible,' Moallaem said. 'Now that they are targeting civilians, I don't want to weep for my children.'

The village lies in the Nabatieh province, which has frequently been hit during the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began in October 2023, when the Lebanese armed group started firing rockets into northern Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian group Hamas after its attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli offensive in Gaza. The border exchanges have killed hundreds of people, most of them in Lebanon, and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the frontier.

In recent days, large numbers of residents have again been fleeing villages near the Israeli-occupied strip, according to Lebanese media reports. Displaced families have sought shelter in Sidon and other coastal cities.

International humanitarian law prohibits direct attacks on civilians and medical personnel. The United Nations has repeatedly called for restraint and for all parties to protect non-combatants. The precise circumstances of the latest strikes, including whether any armed fighters were present near the targeted buildings, could not be independently verified.