At least 13 people, including six children, have been killed in Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon, in one of the deadliest bombings in recent weeks. The Lebanese Health Ministry said 12 people were killed in the main strike on the town of Kfar Ruman, while another person was killed in a separate drone strike. The attacks have raised fears of a new Israeli military campaign in Lebanon, despite a ceasefire reached in June between Israel and Hezbollah.

The attack in Kfar Ruman hit a residential complex as children were preparing to go to school. The Health Ministry said the victims included six children and three women. Reuters reporters at the scene saw textbooks among the rubble of the collapsed building, as rescue workers used heavy machinery to pull out the bodies of the victims.

Among those affected by the bombing is eight-year-old Mustafa Farhat, who, according to residents, lost his mother and grandparents. The boy was injured and taken to hospital, while rescue teams continued the search for his father, who was reported missing.

A relative of the family, Mona Farhat, said the apartment was hit just before schools opened. "What do they want? What is their objective? Do they want us to leave our land? They are wrong," she said.

The Israeli military said it had struck people carrying weapons in Kfar Ruman, while later stating that it was investigating reports that “innocent people” had also been hit in the attack. According to sources cited in the report, no warning was given to evacuate residents before the attacks in Kfar Ruman.

In another attack, an Israeli drone targeting a vehicle killed a paramedic and wounded two others, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched two armed drones overnight against soldiers near the Ali al-Taher ridge, a hilly area in southeastern Lebanon where the group is believed to have built an underground military complex. Israel claimed last week that it had “cleared” the area of ​​Hezbollah fighters, a claim the Lebanese group has not commented on.

The escalation of attacks in recent days has heightened concerns in Lebanon about the return of larger-scale fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, despite a ceasefire agreement reached in June.