Israeli strike in southern Lebanon kills 10
An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon early Saturday killed at least 10 Syrian nationals, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
The strike on Wadi al Kfour in Nabatieh province is among the deadliest in Lebanon since the Hezbollah militant group and Israeli military started trading strikes Oct. 8, a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel and sparked the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah maintains that it will stop its attacks once a cease-fire is reached in the Gaza Strip.
A woman and her two children were among those killed, the ministry said. Five others were wounded, with two in critical condition, the ministry said.
An Israeli military spokesperson, 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 struck was an “industrial and civilian area” that contained factories producing bricks, metal and aluminum, as well as a dairy farm.
The uncle of three of the people killed in the strike said they were factory workers who were in their housing when they were hit. He denied that there were weapons at the facility.
Israel’s assassinations of Hezbollah commanders have short-term benefits. But longer-term strategic victory is less certain.
“There was nothing at all like that,” Hussein Shahoud said. “There was metal for construction, for building, for all kinds of purposes.”
Hezbollah later announced it had fired a volley of rockets at the community of Ayelet HaShahar, near Safad in northern Israel in retaliation for the strike. It said in a statement that all 10 victims in Lebanon were civilians; Hezbollah typically issues death notices when its members are killed.
The Israeli army said 55 projectiles were launched in the volley from Lebanon, some of which fell in open areas. No injuries were reported, but the strikes ignited multiple fires, the army said. Earlier Saturday, two Israeli soldiers were injured, one seriously, by a strike from Lebanon that hit the area of Misgav Am, the army said.
The Israeli military also said it had killed a Hezbollah commander Saturday in a separate strike in the area of the coastal city of Tyre. Lebanese state media reported that one person was killed in a strike on a motorcyclist near Tyre. Hezbollah did not give a statement on the person’s identity.
The Lebanese government and international governments have scrambled for weeks to put an end to the monthslong clashes, with the region on a knife edge since July.
An Israeli strike last month in southern Beirut killed Hezbollah’s top commander, whom Israel accused of leading 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.
Israel launched an airstrike targeting a senior Hezbollah commander it said was responsible for a rocket attack over the weekend.
Tehran and Hezbollah have vowed to retaliate against Israel, but have not yet launched strikes as Gaza cease-fire talks and other diplomacy efforts continue in Qatar.
Hezbollah and Israel fought a six-week war in the summer of 2006 that ended in a draw. Hezbollah’s military capabilities have developed significantly since then.
More than 500 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli strikes since Oct. 8, most of them fighters with Hezbollah and other armed groups but also including about 100 civilians and noncombatants. 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 tense frontier.
The escalating war between Hezbollah and Israel — coupled with scorching heat — has sparked fires that are destroying forests and farmland.
Also Saturday, Lebanon’s state utility announced that its power plants had exhausted their supply of fuel oil and would stop producing electricity until more supply is secured.
Lebanon has struggled with severe electricity shortages for years, particularly since the country fell into a protracted financial crisis in 2019. Homes and businesses rely largely on generators and, increasingly, solar panels for power as the state typically supplies electricity only a few hours a day. The state electricity supply relies on fuel provided by Iraq, but issues have arisen over payments.
Associated Press writer Zaatari reported from Nabatieh, Chehayeb from Beirut. AP writers Jack Jeffery in Jerusalem and Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.
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