Israeli drone strikes on multiple vehicles across Lebanon on Wednesday killed at least 12 people, including a woman and her two children, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The ministry said seven separate strikes targeted vehicles, including three along a major highway south of Beirut. While it confirmed the overall death toll, it did not provide a detailed breakdown of casualties in each vehicle.
According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, two of the strikes hit a key highway linking Beirut to the southern port city of Sidon, while another targeted the town of Saadiyat near the busy route. These attacks alone left eight people dead, including the mother and her two children.
Another strike near the northern entrance of Sidon in the early afternoon killed one person and injured another, the Health Ministry said. Three additional drone strikes on vehicles in southern Lebanon claimed three more lives.
An Associated Press photographer reported seeing the bodies of three victims at strike sites near the coastal towns of Barja and Jiyeh.
The Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon, hours after warning residents of six villages to evacuate.
The attacks come as Lebanon and Israel are set to hold another round of direct talks in Washington on Thursday, with the Trump administration seeking to ease tensions between the two sides, which have remained in a state of war since 1948.
Meanwhile, cross-border hostilities have continued despite a US-brokered ceasefire reached on April 17. Hezbollah said it carried out further attacks on Israel, including drone strikes, as both sides continued to exchange fire.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) expressed growing concern over escalating clashes near its positions, warning that peacekeepers are increasingly at risk. UNIFIL said a suspected Hezbollah drone exploded داخل its headquarters in Naqoura on Tuesday, following similar incidents earlier in the week. No casualties were reported, though some facilities were damaged.
The current Israel-Hezbollah conflict began on March 2, when the Lebanese group launched rockets into northern Israel shortly after US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Since the start of the conflict, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said 2,896 people have been killed and 8,824 injured.