Lebanon says 8 killed in Israeli attack near coastal city

BEIRUT, Lebanon: At least eight people were killed and 25 others wounded on Sunday in an Israeli attack near the southern city of Sidon, where an AFP correspondent said a building was targeted.

The attack took place in a densely populated area of ​​the Sidon suburb that has seen an influx of displaced families from areas further south.

It was the first attack there since the Israel-Hezbollah war began last month.

“Eight people were killed in an Israeli enemy attack on Haret Saida,” the health ministry said, revising an earlier toll of two dead.

The official national news agency said a child was among the victims.

An apartment was destroyed in the attack on the three-story residential complex, an AFP correspondent said.

The reporter said nearby shops and buildings were also damaged following the attack, as paramedics rushed to the site of the attack to search for survivors.

The Israeli army had issued an evacuation warning for several areas in southern Lebanon on Sunday, but Haret Saida was not listed among the areas to be targeted.

At least 1,615 people have been killed in Lebanon since the war began on September 23, according to a tally compiled by AFP based on health ministry figures across the country, although the real number is likely higher due to differences in data.

At least 1.3 million people have been displaced, more than 800,000 of them within Lebanon’s borders, according to the UN migration agency.

More than half a million people have crossed into Syria, most of them Syrians, according to Lebanese authorities.