Reports: 11 dead in Lebanon strikes; last bridge linking south to rest of country destroyed

At least 11 people, including women and children, were killed and others wounded in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, Arabic media reports, citing Lebanon’s health ministry.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) says several strikes were carried out in the past hour, including one near the village of Qasmiyeh that wounded 15 people, and another that killed a motorcyclist in the same area.

NNA also reports that the IDF once again struck the Qasmiyeh Bridge over the Litani River, destroying it completely.

The strike is said to sever the last bridge linking southern Lebanon to the rest of the country, according to a senior Lebanese security official who spoke to Reuters, and added that the strike “shattered” the bridge and left no possibility of repairing it.

The IDF has in recent weeks issued repeated warnings for civilians in southern Lebanon to evacuate north of the Zahrani River, which is north of the Litani River.

Israel previously targeted the bridge on March 23, accusing Hezbollah of using it to move operatives and weapons into the country’s south. That drew condemnation from Beirut, which at the time called the strike a “dangerous escalation.”