Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed 31 people on Tuesday, the Lebanese health ministry said, as Israel said it was intensifying attacks despite a truce in its war with Hezbollah.

The toll included at least four children and three women, and the ministry said 40 others were wounded. The strikes were spread across the south and east of the country, with casualties reported in Burj al-Shamali near Tyre, Kawthariyat al-Riz, Habbush, Maarakeh and Salaa. In eastern Lebanon, the health ministry said an airstrike on Mashghara in West Bekaa left 11 dead and 15 wounded, including a child.

The scale of the bombardment was matched by a widening ground campaign. An Israeli military official told AFP that troops had begun operating beyond the Israel-announced Yellow Line in south Lebanon, which lies about 10 kilometres inside Lebanese territory. Hezbollah said its fighters confronted Israeli troops trying to advance toward Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, a town that overlooks Nabatieh city, after airstrikes and heavy artillery fire. The group also said it carried out drone and rocket attacks on Israeli forces there.

The Israeli army said it had bombed more than 100 Hezbollah targets overnight and that it intercepted explosive drones launched by Hezbollah toward Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was operating with substantial ground forces and securing strategically dominant positions to create a buffer zone for the north of the country.

The fighting was visible in cities and near sensitive infrastructure. AFP reported strikes in Nabatieh after an evacuation warning and said a strike near a public hospital caused significant damage. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency also reported strikes near the Qaraoun dam and lake in the east. The Litani River Authority warned that any direct or indirect strike on the dam could create catastrophic risks downstream.

The Lebanese civil defence said one of its rescuers died after a double-tap strike in Qaraoun while he was treating a man hit in an earlier attack. A separate strike in Srifa killed a rescuer and wounded two others. The health ministry said the rescuer death toll in the war had reached 121.

The UN said the previous day had brought 91 airspace violations, its highest number since the cessation of hostilities. It also reported hundreds of firing incidents attributed to the Israeli army and multiple projectile launches by Hezbollah. The picture described by the UN and by local officials is one of a conflict that remains active despite the formal truce.

Lebanon says more than 3,100 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since March 2, when Hezbollah drew Lebanon more deeply into the regional war by attacking Israel in support of Iran. Tuesday’s figures suggest the human cost is still climbing even as military operations push into new areas.