An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon early Saturday killed at least 10 Syrian nationals, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The strike on Wadi al-Kfour in Nabatieh province was one of the deadliest in Lebanon since the Hezbollah militant group and the Israeli army began exchanging strikes on October 8, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel and sparked rebellion. War between Israel and Hamas in GazaHezbollah says it will stop its attacks once a ceasefire is reached in the Gaza Strip.
The dead included a woman and her two children, the ministry said. Five other people were injured, two of them in critical condition.
Mohammad Zaatari / AP
An Arab spokesman for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, said the strike in the southern province targeted a weapons depot belonging to Hezbollah.
Mohammad Shoaib, who runs a slaughterhouse in Wadi al-Kfour, said the area hit was an “industrial and civilian zone” that contained factories producing bricks, metal and aluminum, as well as a dairy farm.
Mohammad Zaatari / AP
The uncle of three of those killed in the strike said they were workers who were in their homes when they were hit. He denied there were any weapons in the factory.
“There was nothing like this,” Hussein Shahoud said. “There was metal for construction, for building, for all kinds of uses.”
Hezbollah later announced that it had fired a salvo of rockets at the town of Ayelet HaShahar, near Safad in northern Israel, in retaliation for the strike. The statement said that the 10 victims in Lebanon were civilians. Hezbollah typically issues death notices when its members are killed.
Mohammad Zaatari / AP
The Israeli military said 55 projectiles were identified as coming from Lebanon, some of which landed in open areas. No injuries were reported, but the strikes sparked several fires, it said. Earlier Saturday, two Israeli soldiers were injured, one seriously, by a strike from Lebanon that hit the Misgav Am area.
The Lebanese government and international governments have been struggling for weeks to end months of fighting, with the region on a knife-edge since July.
An Israeli strike last month in southern Beirut killed Hezbollah’s top commanderaccused by Israel of carrying out a rocket attack on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 youths. Hours later, an explosion widely blamed on Israel killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital.
Both Tehran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate, but have yet to do so. Strikes were launched as diplomatic efforts and Gaza ceasefire talks continue in Qatar.
Hezbollah and Israel fought a six-week war in the summer of 2006, which ended in a draw. Hezbollah’s military capabilities have evolved considerably since then.
Since October 8, more than 500 people have been killed by Israeli strikes, mostly fighters from Hezbollah and other armed groups, but also about 100 civilians and non-combatants. In northern Israel, 22 soldiers and 24 civilians have been killed by strikes from Lebanon. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the border.
