Israel widens Lebanon strikes as troops fight Hezbollah

BEIRUT — Israel expanded its aerial bombardment of targets in Lebanon, hitting areas both in and outside traditional Hezbollah bastions, as its troops battled militants across the border on Sunday.

In areas where Hezbollah holds sway, Israeli warplanes hit a marketplace in the southern city of Nabatiyeh on Saturday, and then a mosque in a village near the border on Sunday, Lebanon's official National News Agency reported.

The mayor of Kfar Tibnit, where the National News Agency said a strike destroyed a mosque, said he felt he had lost a beloved site that brought people together.

"It was a significant place because families used to gather in the square right next to it on special occasions," Fuad Yassin told Agence France-Presse, adding the mosque was at least 100 years old.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said strikes on three villages on Saturday killed 15 people.

Israel has alleged that militants use civilian infrastructure in Lebanon and Gaza to conduct operations — a claim the groups have denied.

Hezbollah said it clashed with Israeli troops who tried to "infiltrate "twice into a border village, sparking an hourlong battle. It later said it shelled Israeli soldiers gathered in Maroun al-Ras village.

Early on Sunday, Israel said it intercepted five more projectiles fired from Lebanon.

The military said Hezbollah launched about 320 projectiles into Israel over the weekend of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

It also said roughly 280 "terror targets" were attacked in Lebanon and Gaza over the same period.

Israel's expanded operation has displaced more than 1.2 million people, according to Lebanon's government, which says more than 2,100 people have been killed and 10,000 wounded since Sept 23.

Meanwhile, at least five United Nations peacekeepers have been wounded in recent days in Israel's escalating conflict with Hezbollah.

Israeli strikes have shaken the peacekeepers' main base in southern Lebanon, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to condemn the attacks. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, called it a "serious development" and said the security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday urged the UN to withdraw its peacekeeping force from southern Lebanon.

"Mr Secretary-General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm's way," Netanyahu said in a public video statement. "It should be done right now, immediately."

On Saturday, 40 countries that contribute to UNIFIL said they "strongly condemn recent attacks "on the peacekeepers.

"Such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated," said the joint statement posted on X by Poland's UN mission and signed by countries, including leading contributors India, Indonesia and Italy.

Other signatories include China, France, Ghana, Malaysia, Nepal and Spain — all countries that have contributed several hundred troops to the peacekeeping force.

With no signs of a letup in the violence, UN peacekeepers in Lebanon warned against a "catastrophic "regional conflict.

Andrea Tenenti, spokesman for UNIFIL, told AFP he feared an Israeli escalation against Hezbollah could soon spiral "into a regional conflict with catastrophic impact for everyone".

There is "no military solution", Tenenti said.

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli strikes killed at least 29 Palestinians on Saturday, medics said.

Israeli forces have focused on an area around Jabalia in the north, causing more suffering for hundreds of thousands of people trapped there, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Residents of Jabalia, the largest of the enclave's historic refugee camps, said it was being pounded by Israeli forces from the air and ground.

Agencies via Xinhua