BEIRUT — Israeli airstrikes on several towns in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon on Saturday killed 12 paramedics and civil defense volunteers, while injuring three others.

The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that warplanes targeted the town of Deir Qanoun Ras Al-Ain in the Tyre district, where six members of the Islamic Scouts — volunteers involved in emergency medical and civil defense operations — and a paramedic from the Islamic Health Association, a charity organization, were killed. The strikes also killed a civilian and wounded 12 others in the same town.

An airstrike on the town of Ain Baal in Tyre injured three members of the Islamic Scouts. Additionally, five members of the Islamic Scouts were killed in an airstrike on the town of Hanouiyeh in Tyre, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

The Health Ministry condemned Israel’s continued targeting of paramedics, describing it as "an ongoing war crime that has not been deterred by the international community, which is responsible for upholding international humanitarian laws to prevent violence and genocide."

The ministry also reported that an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Midan neighborhood in Nabatieh injured 12 people.

Since late September, Israel has launched a massive air campaign against Lebanon, claiming to target Hezbollah in response to a year-long escalation in cross-border warfare following the onset of the Gaza war.

Lebanese health authorities report that over 3,100 people have been killed and more than 13,900 have been injured in Israeli attacks since October 2023.

Israel initiated an incursion into southern Lebanon on October 1. — Agencies