More strikes in Beirut as Israel continues ground offensive

BEIRUT — Israel’s military has said it has begun striking Hezbollah’s “terrorist infrastructures” in Beirut. Pictures taken Mondaymorning show smoke rising from the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs. Lebanese media also reported a new wave of Israeli strikes on southern Beirut. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) saidsix of its soldiers have been injured in Lebanon in separate incidents. Two soldiers were severely injured after an anti-tank missile was fired towards them in southern Lebanon Sunday afternoon, IDF said. Three IDF soldiers were injured, one severely, after a drone fell near to them, the military says. One more soldier was injured after an “operational accident”, it added. The troops have all been taken to hospital. Israel’s renewed offensive in Lebanon began after Iranian-backed Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader and near-daily strikes on Hezbollah. Since then, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry. Israel has also said it intends to take control of a large part of southern Lebanon as part of its ground campaign against Hezbollah. More than a million people have been displaced in Lebanon as the US-Israel war with Iran continues to impact the wider region. — Agencies