By Middle East Correspondent
LONDON, (The Muslim News): Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 people across Lebanon and Gaza over the weekend, including journalists and paramedics, as the conflict continues to spiral across the region.
Israeli attacks kill 11 people, including journalists and medics in Lebanon
In southern Lebanon, at least 11 people were killed on Sunday in a wave of strikes that hit towns across the Tyre district. Seven died in Hanniyeh alone, while two others were killed in Jwaya alongside three injured.
Two paramedics were also among those targeted by Israeli airstrike. Israel struck a centre run by the Islamic Health Organisation near Bint Jbeil Hospital, underlining the growing toll on emergency workers.
The latest bombardment comes as Israel presses ahead with a major aerial and ground offensive following the beginning of the current war on March 2. Lebanese officials say the violence has now killed more than 1,100 people and wounded over 3,300 — many of them women and children.
The bloodshed extended to members of the press. On Saturday, three journalists were killed when Israel targeted a vehicle near Jezzine. Among those killed were Al-Manar TV correspondent Ali Shuaib and Al-Mayadeen reporter Fatima Fatouni, along with a cameraman.
Israel’s military confirmed it had killed Shuaib but remained silent on the deaths of the other media workers.
Lebanon’s leadership reacted with fury. President Joseph Aoun branded the strike a “blatant crime that violates all norms”, while Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the attack and said Beirut would raise the matter at the United Nations Security Council.
In a further escalation, Israeli artillery also struck a UN peacekeeping position near Adshit al-Qusayr, wounding several personnel.
Hezbollah claimed it had launched dozens of retaliatory attacks within 24 hours, targeting Israeli troops and military sites with rockets, drones and artillery. Israel said nine of its soldiers were wounded by rocket fire from across the border.
Israeli army kills 7 Palestinians in Gaza
Meanwhile in Gaza, the violence showed no sign of easing despite a ceasefire that has technically been in place since October 2025.
At least seven Palestinians were killed in southern Gaza on Sunday, including six civilians in a drone strike on the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis. Another person was shot dead elsewhere in the city, according to medical sources.
US-Israel bomb heavy water facility, media building, civilian energy infrastructure
The widening war has now stretched far beyond Lebanon and Gaza. A joint US-Israeli illegal offensive on Iran launched on February 28 has killed more than 1,300 people, according to Iranian officials.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said a heavy water facility in Khondab had suffered “severe damage” in recent US-Israeli strikes and is no longer operational. Attacks have also hit energy infrastructure, causing blackouts in parts of Tehran, and damaged major industrial sites.
A building housing the Tehran office of Al Araby Television Network was also struck, with footage showing heavy destruction, although no staff were reported killed.
Iran said multiple strategic sites, including nuclear-related facilities, had been targeted but insisted there was no danger of radioactive leakage.
Yemen’s Houthis fire missiles and drones into Israel
Elsewhere, Yemen’s Houthi (Ansar Allah) group said it had fired missiles and drones towards southern Israel, claiming coordination with Iran and Hezbollah as the conflict edges closer to a full-scale regional war.
Lebanese authorities now put the total death toll from Israeli attacks since early March at nearly 1,200, with more than 3,400 wounded, including over 120 children.
[Photo: Lebanese children with their families displaced by Israeli army attacks on southern Beirut take shelter in a school, living in classrooms and tents set up in the schoolyard after being forced to flee their homes in Beirut, Lebanon on March 27, 2026. Photojournalist: Houssam Shbaro/AA]
