BEIRUT 

Three paramedics were killed and two others injured Saturday in an Israeli airstrike targeting a civil defense fire truck in southern Lebanon.

“An Israeli airstrike targeted a Lebanese Civil Defense fire truck in the town of Froun,” Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

The agency reported that the strike killed and injured members of the civil defense fire truck crew.

The civil defense team targeted by Israel was extinguishing fires ignited by recent Israeli airstrikes in the town of Froun, Health Ministry said.

The ministry condemned “this blatant Israeli aggression", noting that this is the second such attack on an ambulance team in less than 12 hours.

Tensions have spiked along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv pressed ahead with its brutal onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 40,900 people since last Oct. 7.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala​​​​​​​