BEIRUT: Israel laun­ched dozens of airstrikes in south Lebanon on Thursday, in one of its heaviest bombardments of the region since a ceasefire ended last year’s war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said “Israeli warplanes carried out a wide-scale aerial aggression on the Nabatiyeh region, launching a series of heavy raids in two waves” targeting hills and valleys in the area, located around 12 kilometres (seven miles) from the border.

The NNA said “huge explosions... echoed in most areas of Nabatiyeh and the south”, causing “terror and panic” among residents, who rushed to pick up their children from school, as ambulances headed to the targeted areas. An eyewitness saw smoke rising from hills in the region. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least one person was killed and another eight wounded in the strikes.

Israel, which inflicted huge damage on Hezbollah during last year’s war, has been carrying out airstrikes in Lebanon on a regular basis since the ceasefire.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2025