BEIRUT: Lebanese rescuers recovered three bodies from the rubble of a building struck by Israel in a September air raid that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, state media reported on Friday.
The health ministry has not released a death toll for the strike, which flattened several buildings in Haret Hreik, a southern Beirut stronghold of the Iran-backed group.
Rescuers arrived at the site on Friday morning to search for seven missing people, the National News Agency said, adding they “retrieved the bodies of three martyrs”.
The remains were taken to Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut for DNA tests to confirm their identities, NNA reported.
Search efforts were ongoing for others it said were still missing.
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A truce between Israel and Hezbollah took effect on November 27, ending a conflict that killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including Hezbollah’s top leaders.
The September 27 air strike targeted Nasrallah in an underground bunker in the residential area.
Nasrallah was killed along with four others, including Hezbollah’s southern Lebanon commander and a senior officer from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the group said.
He was buried at a secret location, for fear Israeli forces might target his funeral.
Hezbollah announced plans for “popular” funeral ceremonies for Nasrallah after the ceasefire but did not specify a date.
Despite the truce, Israeli air strikes have killed more than 20 people in Lebanon since November 27, according to an AFP tally based on health ministry figures.
Both Israel and Hezbollah accuse each other of repeatedly violating the ceasefire.
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