BEIRUT

At least nine people were killed and 70 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Tyre district in southern Lebanon, the Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

“An Israeli airstrike on the town of Maarakeh in Tyre district resulted in the martyrdom of four people and injured five others,” it said in a statement.

It said a separate strike on the town of Qlaileh killed one person.

Lebanon's National News Agency reported intense clashes and attempts by the Israeli army to advance from the outskirts of Aalma El Chaeb toward the village of Shama and town of Biyyadah in southern Lebanon.

It said a confrontation between Hezbollah and the Israeli army erupted while Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem was delivering a video address.

The news agency said Israeli airstrikes targeted the towns of Wadi Hamoul and Labbouneh on the outskirts of Naqoura along with artillery and white phosphorus shelling.

Later, the Health Ministry said that four more people were killed and 39 others injured in a renewed Israel airstrike on Maarakeh.

The ministry also said that 26 people were wounded in Israeli strikes targeting several areas including Jwaya, Debaal, Aabbassiyeh, Majdal Zoun and Bazouriye, all in Tyre district.

The escalation comes as US envoy Amos Hochstein visits Lebanon, despite Washington’s unwavering support for Israel in its genocide in the Gaza Strip.​​​​​​​

Hochstein is set to travel to Israel later Wednesday in an effort to broker a cease-fire deal to end Israeli military actions against Lebanon.

Israel has been engaged in cross-border warfare with Lebanon, launching an air campaign against what it claims are targets of the Hezbollah group since late September.

More than 3,550 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon, with over 15,100 injured and more than a million displaced since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel expanded the conflict by launching a ground assault into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1 this year.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio