BEIRUT, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Israeli airstrikes continued to pound southern Lebanon on Friday night, killing at least 13 people and hitting the Nepalese battalion's compound of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), according to Lebanese official sources.

The Lebanese Health Ministry's Emergency Operations Center said an Israeli strike directly targeted a joint emergency point operated by the Islamic Health Authority and the Islamic Risala Scouts, killing two rescuers and wounding five others.

In Nabatieh, six people, including a young girl, were killed when Israeli warplanes struck a house in the city's Al-Rahibat neighborhood, according to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency.

Another Israeli strike on the southern border city of Bint Jbeil killed three people, while two children were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit a building in the coastal town of Ghazieh.

According to the National News Agency, Israeli shells also landed inside the Nepalese battalion's compound of UNIFIL in the southern Lebanese border village of Mays al-Jabal.

The honorary consulate of Nepal in Beirut strongly condemned the attack in a statement, noting that no Nepali soldiers were injured but emphasizing that targeting UN peacekeeping positions is a serious violation of international law and the principles protecting UN personnel.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it carried out several retaliatory operations against Israeli targets. In separate statements, the group said it fired rocket salvos at gatherings of Israeli soldiers and vehicles in Wadi Hunin opposite the Lebanese border village of Markaba and at the newly established Blat military site in southern Lebanon.

The group also announced that it targeted the Giv'a drone control base east of the Israeli city of Safed and struck a gathering of Israeli troops in the settlement of Metula for the third time during the day with rocket fire.

Later on Friday night, Israel launched a new wave of airstrikes against Beirut's southern suburbs, widely known as Hezbollah's stronghold, marking a further escalation in the ongoing cross-border confrontation.

Hezbollah announced the launch of rockets from Lebanon toward Israel on March 2 for the first time since a ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27, 2024. Israel subsequently launched an offensive military campaign against the group, carrying out intensive airstrikes on multiple areas in southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as Beirut's southern suburbs. ■