BEIRUT, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen people were killed on Tuesday afternoon in Israeli airstrikes on the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, the official National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Starting from 2:00 p.m. local time (1100 GMT), Israeli warplanes carried out a barrage of airstrikes on Nabatieh's main street, the third Israeli air "aggression" on Nabatieh in less than two weeks, said the NNA.

"In less than half a minute, many residential and commercial buildings, dozens of shops, and cafes were destroyed. Moreover, the airstrikes caused extensive damage to the street extending from the Sabah Statue to the Nabatieh Central, and comprehensive destruction of the Sabouri Station and the surrounding buildings and many offices and companies," it said.

Lebanese military sources, who spoke anonymously, told Xinhua on Tuesday that four Israeli warplanes fired eight air-to-ground missiles on the main Nabatieh market, destroying dozens of shops and buildings.

Several teams from the Civil Defense and the Lebanese Red Cross rushed to the targeted locations to extinguish the fire and search for victims, they said.

Israeli warplanes also carried out three consecutive raids targeting the Ghobeiry area in Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday afternoon, the NNA said in a separate report.

The raids targeted residential buildings, according to videos circulated on social media, one of which showed a building collapsing when it was bombed.

Before the raids, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on social media platform X that "all residents in the southern suburb area, specifically in the two buildings specified in the attached map and the ones adjacent to them in Ghobeiry," are "located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah."

Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has been launching intensive airstrikes on Lebanon in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah.

Israel has been intensifying raids and shelling in southern and eastern regions of Lebanon, as well as Mount Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. In addition, Israel announced the launch of a ground operation near the border with southern Lebanon earlier this month. Enditem

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