An Israeli airstrike in Lebanon hit a building housing Syrian workers and their families, killing 23 people, Lebanese officials said Thursday. It was one of the deadliest single strikes in an intensified air campaign against the militant Hezbollah group.
The strike late Wednesday came as the United States and its allies called for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire to “provide space for diplomacy.” Israel has threatened to launch a ground invasion, and the increasingly heavy exchanges of fire could trigger an all-out war.
Lebanon's National News Agency said the strike occurred near the ancient city of Baalbek in Lebanon's northeastern Bekaa Valley, which runs along the Syrian border. It quoted Ali Kassas, mayor of the village of Younine, as saying that the bodies of 23 Syrian citizens were pulled from under the rubble. He said four Syrians and four Lebanese were wounded.
Hussein Salloum, a local official in Younine, said most of the dead were women and children, and that rescue efforts lasted through the night and into Thursday morning.
“We dug through the rubble with our own hands” until a small bulldozer was brought in, Salloum told The Associated Press by telephone. “We had very limited capabilities.”
The Lebanese Red Cross said it recovered nine bodies, while others were recovered by the Hezbollah militant group’s paramedic service and the Lebanese Civil Defense.
Lebanon, with a population of around 6 million, hosts nearly 780,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands who are unregistered — the world’s highest refugee population per capita.
Israel has carried out days of heavy strikes across Lebanon, targeting what it says are Hezbollah rocket launchers and other military infrastructure. The militants have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel and on Wednesday targeted Tel Aviv for the first time with a longer-range missile that was intercepted.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is traveling to the United States for the U.N. General Assembly, has not yet responded to the cease-fire proposal. But his foreign minister, Israel Katz, said Israel would continue fighting “with full force until victory.”
Hezbollah has also not yet responded to the proposal. The militant group has insisted it would only halt its strikes if there is a cease-fire in Gaza, which appears out of reach despite months of negotiations led by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
Israeli strikes since Monday have killed more than 630 people in Lebanon, according to local health authorities, who say around a quarter were women and children. Several people have been wounded by shrapnel in Israel.
Israel struck 75 sites overnight across southern and eastern Lebanon, the military said. At least 45 projectiles were fired from Lebanon early Thursday, all of which were intercepted or fell in open areas, it said.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in Gaza, hoping to pin down Israeli forces. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are close allies of Iran.
The fighting has killed dozens of people in Israel and driven tens of thousands from their homes on both sides of the border.
Israel has vowed to do whatever is necessary to allow its citizens to return, and it has moved thousands of troops to the northern border in preparation for a possible ground operation.