Lebanese Officials Say Israeli Strike Kills at Least 10
"It would be one of the deadliest attacks in the country since Israel began fighting its war in Gaza. Negotiators have been pushing to reach a cease-fire in that war, hoping to avert a wider conflagration.
An Israeli strike killed at least 10 people overnight in southern Lebanon, the country’s health ministry said Saturday. Israel’s military said that it had targeted a weapons warehouse in the area used by Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia group backed by Iran.
The death toll would be one of the largest in the near-daily volley of attacks in the border area between Lebanon and Israel throughout the 10 months Israel has been fighting its war in Gaza. Tensions have heightened even further in the region in recent weeks after the killings of senior leaders from Hezbollah and Hamas prompted vows of retaliation against Israel.
Mediators have been pushing to avert a wider war with a concerted diplomatic push for a cease-fire in Israel’s war in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is scheduled to travel to Israel on Saturday to help facilitate the talks, which are being mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, according to the State Department.
All of the people killed in the attack near the city of Nabatieh were Syrian nationals, and they included a woman and her two children, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement. Lebanese state-run media said they were killed when Israeli fighter jets struck a cement brick factory near the city. Footage circulating in local media showed rescue teams combing through the rubble and ferrying people to an ambulance.
The Israeli military said it was “looking into the claim that several civilians were harmed as a result of the strike.”
Unease has hung over southern Lebanon and the broader region since Israel killed a senior Hezbollah official in late July in response to an attack from Lebanon that killed 12 children and teenagers in an Israeli-controlled town.
A retaliatory attack from Iran or its proxies, which include Hezbollah, has been widely anticipated since the killings of the Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, in Beirut, and less than a day later, a senior Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh. Israel has claimed responsibility for Mr. Shukr’s death and is widely believed to be responsible for Mr. Haniyeh’s.
U.S., Iranian and Israeli officials said on Friday said that Iran had decided to delay any reprisals against Israel to allow mediators to continue working toward a cease-fire in Gaza.
The high-level talks to halt the war ended without an immediate breakthrough on Friday, but the United States, Egypt and Qatar said the negotiations would continue next week as mediators raced to secure a truce.
Aaron Boxerman in Jerusalem contributed reporting.
Victoria Kim is a reporter based in Seoul and focuses on breaking news coverage across the world. More about Victoria Kim"
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