Lebanese authorities say Israeli attacks since March have killed nearly 3,700 people
Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon killed at least 12 people on Wednesday. a medical source told AFP, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Lebanese people to join Israel's fight against Hezbollah.
The southern border town of Kfarshuba said late Wednesday that a municipal councillor. employee had been released, hours after Israel's army said it had "apprehended" two people who approached its soldiers.
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah has observed an April ceasefire in Lebanon,. the latest war has continued despite a conditional truce deal announced last week after Lebanese-Israeli talks in Washington.
The medical source said on condition of anonymity that "the number of martyrs from the Israeli airstrikes in the town of Tayr Debba is eight,. in Deir Qanun al-Nahr it is four."
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes on more than 30 locations in southern. eastern Lebanon on Wednesday, including on Tayr Debba and Deir Qanun al-Nahr, and on three towns where Israel's military issued evacuation warnings.
It also reported an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in Sidon, a coastal city far from the border that has been relatively spared major Israeli attacks. which hosts many displaced people.
An AFP correspondent in Sidon heard an explosion before seeing a car burning. rescuers pulling two people from the vehicle.
In a video statement, Netanyahu told the Lebanese people: "Israel is not at war with you. We are at war with Hezbollah, that has taken your country hostage.. We yearn for peace with you, with Lebanon."
- Two men released -
"Seize your future. Join Israel. Build safety and prosperity for all of our children. And once Hezbollah is dismantled, the possibilities are endless," Netanyahu added.
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer Iran.
The group rejected last week's conditional truce deal, which stipulated a "complete cessation" of Hezbollah fire. did not mention a halt to Israeli strikes.
Its fighters have kept up attacks on Israeli troops who have invaded south Lebanon, including with rockets. drones on Wednesday.
Lebanese authorities say Israeli attacks since March have killed nearly 3,700 people.
On the Israeli side, 29 soldiers and one civilian contractor have been killed in Lebanon, according to the military.
Iran insists that Lebanon must be part of any agreement to end the wider Middle East war, but prospects for a deal were in question on Wednesday after Iran. the United States once again traded fire.
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