South Lebanon mourns victims of new Israeli airstrikes

Hundreds gathered in the southern Lebanese town of Nabatieh to mourn five people killed in recent Israeli air raids, as Tel Aviv vows to escalate its attacks.

According to Lebanon’s Health Ministry, four people were killed in an Israeli strike on Kafr Rumman, in the Nabatieh district, on Thursday.

A day earlier, Israel said it had assassinated “a Hezbollah maintenance officer” in another strike in the same district, alleging he was rebuilding the group’s infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

Funeral processions filled the streets as the victims’ coffins, wrapped in Hezbollah flags, were carried through the crowd. Many mourners clutched photos of relatives killed in past Israeli bombardments.

“This is a price the south is paying on a daily basis,” said Rana Hamed, whose son was among those killed.

Despite a nearly yearlong truce with Hezbollah, Israel has continued to launch attacks across southern Lebanon, a campaign critics say aims to provoke a wider war and keep the region in perpetual instability.