Israeli strike on ambulance in south Lebanon kills paramedic and patient

An Israeli strike on an ambulance belonging to the Islamic Health Committee killed one paramedic and his patient on Sunday, the group's spokesperson said.

The incident came a day after at least nine first aid workers were killed by Israeli strikes on the south.

Some 47 aid workers have been killed since the war began, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Lebanon was pulled into the Middle East war on March 2 when the Iran-backed group Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel to avenge the US-Israeli killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Israel has launched large-scale strikes on Lebanon and a ground offensive in the country's south, killing at least 1,189 people killed since the hostilities broke out.

Before March 2, Israel was also frequently violating a ceasefire with Hezbollah reached in November 2024.

"A paramedic and a wounded person who was with him were killed in an Israeli raid on an ambulance in the town of Bint Jbeil," Islamic Health Committee spokesperson Mahmoud Karaki told AFP.

An image shared by Karaki showed a destroyed ambulance, set ablaze.

In a statement on social media, the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee threatened that Israel would continue to strike ambulances, claiming that Hezbollah was using them for cover.

"We reiterate our confirmation that, as part of its terrorist activities, Hezbollah is making extensive military use of ambulances," he said.

On Saturday, Israeli strikes killed at least nine paramedics across the south, alongside several other deadly bombings, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Israeli warplanes also broke the sound barrier over Beirut, causing panic.

Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli army announced the death of a fifth soldier since the start of the war in Lebanon.

It also said its troops carried out a "targeted operation to thwart attempts by terrorist organisations to establish a foothold along the Lebanon border".

Israel troops crossed "on foot through deep snow from the Syrian [Mount] Hermon", which Israel has occupied since the 2024 fall of longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, to the Shabaa area of southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Israeli troops and positions in southern Lebanon and northern Israel.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported several Israeli strikes across the south on Sunday.