The human toll of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to rise as the Israel-Hamas war completes one year and consumes other areas in the region. Fresh reports from the ground suggest an Israeli drone strike in Lebanon’s Mount Lebanon area killed 10 members of the same family, including four children.
An ABP News team covering the conflict on the ground in Lebanon visited the site of the strike and captured the devastation suffered by two local buildings and the area in their vicinity. The family resided in one of the two buildings, on the top floor of a three-storey structure.
Israel has intensified its onslaught on Lebanon in recent weeks to target Hezbollah, a Shia political party and militant group that is one of the Iranian ‘proxies’ that have joined the ongoing battle on behalf of Hamas. Israel’s ground offensives in Lebanon and Gaza continue even as fears rise over its promised retaliation for Iran’s missile strikes on Israeli territory last week.
The aforementioned drone attack is believed to be the first of its kind in Mount Lebanon, one of Lebanon’s nine governorates. Even as Israel continues to pound Dahieh — described by the BBC as a “collection of neighbourhoods south of Beirut” where Hezbollah “is the dominant force” — attacks are also reportedly being aimed at remote Shia-dominated villages, according to ABP News inputs. The site of the drone attack is one such area.
Israel has reportedly called for Shia-dominated areas, or those with a sizeable number of Hezbollah supporters, to be declared ‘no man’s land’ so that people move out of there amid its assault.
Monday marks one year since the ongoing war began, triggered by a brutal Hamas-led terror attack on southern Israeli communities. While the attack killed 1,200 Israelis, Israel’s retaliation has since led to thousands of deaths in Gaza. Hundreds of deaths have also been reported from Lebanon in recent weeks.