At least 30 killed in Israeli airstrikes on central Lebanon | Renewed displacement from Dahiyeh amid successive strikes

At least 30 Lebanese civilians, mostly displaced individuals, were killed in a series of Israeli airstrikes that began Tuesday evening on several areas in central Lebanon, where many displaced individuals are concentrated, particularly in Chouf and Mount Lebanon.

Israel renewed its airstrikes on southwest Beirut, while clashes continued at the border as Hezbollah fighters pushed back against Israeli forces attempting to push into southern Lebanon.

Sixteen of those killed in central Lebanon were the victims of an Israeli airstrike on the town of Joun, in Chouf, according to a Mada Masr correspondent who visited the scene. 

 The Lebanese Health Ministry reported on Tuesday that 15 people were killed, including eight women and four children. Twelve people were injured in the strike, the ministry said.

The correspondent reported that the missile had struck a building in the mountainous town on Tuesday night, and that search and rescue efforts continued into the afternoon. The attack destroyed a three-story residential building housing displaced families, with the damage also extending to apartments in nearby buildings and vehicles parked close by.

Tuesday’s airstrike was the second to target the overcrowded town, which is home to both Christian and Shia communities, and, recently, a shelter for a significant number of people displaced from southern Lebanon by Israel’s aggression.

Israel also launched an airstrike on the village of Baalchmay further north in Lebanon on Tuesday, killing eight people and injuring five. The victims, originally from Beqaa’s Nahleh municipality, had fled to Baalchmay to escape ongoing Israeli shelling, the former head of the Nahleh municipality, Jamal al-Yahfufi, told Mada Masr. Yahfufi condemned the Israeli Air Force for deliberately targeting displaced individuals in Beqaa, Beirut, Jbeil and other areas. He urged the international community to pressure Israel to "stop its massacres against innocent civilians, especially the displaced."

Later the same night, an airstrike hit an apartment in the town of Dawhet Aramoun, which lies south of Beirut and had become a destination for many displaced families from the south due to its location and affordability. Local sources reported that the targeted building housed displaced residents from the southern village of Froun in Bint Jbeil. The attack killed six people and injured 15, according to the Health Ministry, which stated that some remains recovered from the site have yet to be identified.

Meanwhile, Israel continued to target southern Lebanon and Baalbek with daily airstrikes. The Health Ministry said on Tuesday evening that recent attacks on three villages in Nabatieh, Baalbek and Sur had killed four people and injured around 34. 

According to the Lebanese Health Ministry's latest tally, the death toll has reached 3,287, with 14,222 reported injuries, since October 23. 

Meanwhile, the capital’s southern suburbs were subject to a renewed wave of Israeli bombing beginning Tuesday and continuing into Wednesday morning. Israel’s frequent attacks on Dahiyeh had abated somewhat in the days prior.

Renewed evacuation orders from Israel’s military spokesperson and consecutive airstrikes since Tuesday have triggered significant displacement from Beirut, which caused heavy congestion on roads this week.

The Israeli military claimed on Wednesday that it targeted Hezbollah weapon depots and headquarters located in civilian residential areas in Dahiyeh. It also reported that four Hezbollah field commanders had been killed in airstrikes since last month.

This comes as Hezbollah continued its operations against Israeli forces, announcing on Tuesday that it had conducted strikes on nine Israeli positions along the border and shelled five northern Israeli settlements. Hezbollah also reported having forced three Israeli drones to retreat from Lebanon’s central and western areas.

Since Tuesday evening, Hezbollah has concentrated its attacks on Israeli military bases, striking six in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Nahariya and Akka, including two sites that the group has targeted for the first time.