‘Israel violated Lebanon truce nearly 3,500 times’

The wife of a Lebanese army captain, who was killed by Israeli bombardment, salutes as mourners carry her husband’s coffin at his home village in southern Lebanon.—AFP • Woman, child among 12 killed in attacks on Zifta, Tyre• Beirut counts 3,491 Israeli strikes since April 17; fresh bombardment damages Unesco heritage site• Hezbollah denies contact with Trump BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed 12 people on Monday as Lebanese Defence Minister Michel Men­assa revealed Israel has carried out nearly 3,500 air strikes since a US-brokered ceasefire took effect in April. The Lebanese health ministry said the dawn raid on the town of Zifta in the Nabatieh district resulted in seven deaths, including a Syrian child and a woman, and wounded eight others. Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on Tyre in southern Lebanon on Monday killed five people and wounded eight, the health ministry said, as Israel said it would continue strikes despite Iranian threats. “An Israeli enemy raid on the city of Tyre, near the Red Cross centre, resulted in five martyrs and eight wounded, four of whom were Red Cross paramedics,” the ministry said in a statement. The continuing violence underscores the fragility of the ceasefire that came into effect on April 17. Nearly 3,500 Israeli attacks During a cabinet meeting on Monday, Menassa said that between April 17 and June 7, Israel conducted 3,491 air strikes, 407 controlled demolitions and six razing operations, flattening entire villages in southernmost Lebanon. PM Nawaf Salam said the escalation has caused additional waves of displacement. More than 1 million people have been displaced and over 3,600 killed since Hez­bollah drew Lebanon into the conflict on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli killing of Iran’s supreme leader. The heavy bombardment in Tyre also damaged a Unesco World Heritage site. Ali Badawi, the culture ministry’s regional director of archaeological sites for south Lebanon, said Sunday’s bombard