At least 12 killed in Israeli strikes on S. Lebanon

BEIRUT, June 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people were killed and several others injured in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Monday, according to Lebanese health authorities, media reports, and rescue agencies.

Lebanon's Public Health Emergency Operations Center said an Israeli airstrike on Zefta in the Nabatieh district before dawn killed seven people, including a Syrian girl and a woman, and wounded eight others.

In separate attacks, one person was killed and several others injured in an Israeli strike on the southern town of Kharayeb, while four people were killed and a number of others wounded in an Israeli strike that targeted a vehicle in the Tyre district, according to Lebanon's National News Agency and civil defense authorities.

The Lebanese Red Cross said four paramedics sustained minor to moderate injuries from shattered glass when a strike occurred near its center in the city of Tyre. The injured were transferred to a hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said its members launched a rocket barrage at a gathering of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles on the outskirts of Beit Yahoun in the Bint Jbeil district and targeted an Israeli communications vehicle near the historic Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon with an attack drone, claiming a direct hit.

Lebanon's Public Health Emergency Operations Center said the cumulative toll from the conflict between March 2 and June 8 had reached 3,637 dead and 11,188 injured.

Also on Monday, Lebanon's National News Agency released the second part of President Joseph Aoun's interview conducted on Friday with CNN's chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour, in which the Lebanese president called on Israelis to choose dialogue over war, saying Lebanon is ready for talks aimed at ending decades of hostility between the two countries.

Aoun reiterated Lebanon's readiness to continue U.S.-mediated negotiations with Israel, saying he had no alternative but to pursue diplomacy and seek a settlement to the conflict.

A U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect on April 17, yet Israeli troops have remained positioned deep inside southern Lebanon and kept fighting the Iran-backed militant group of Hezbollah. Enditem