BEIRUT, LEBANON, MAY 8 (AFP/APP/DNA):Lebanese official media said Israel conducted heavy air strikes on the south on Thursday, the latest raids despite a fragile November ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The 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.
It 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 AFP photographer saw smoke rising from hills in the region.
“We heard a loud strike, about 10 consecutive blows,” said Jamal Sabbagh, a 29-year-old doctor who was giving schoolchildren health checks near the city of Nabatiyeh.
“Some of the children were scared and there was panic, the teachers were also frightened,” he told AFP.