Israeli attack on Almat, Lebanon, kills 23, including seven children | Israel attacks Lebanon news

An Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese village of Almat on Sunday killed at least 23 people, including seven children, and injured several others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The majority Shiite Muslim village of Almat in Jbeil district is about 30 km (19 miles) north of the capital Beirut and lies in a predominantly Christian area.

The village lies outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds in southern Beirut and southern and eastern Lebanon, which Israel has heavily bombed since late September in its war against the Iran-backed group.

“In the Israeli enemy attack on Almat in the Jbeil district, 23 people were killed, including seven children. The number has been updated but is not yet final,” the Health Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

It also said body parts had been recovered from the site and were being identified.

Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan noted that this was only the second attack on the area since Israel’s fighting with Hezbollah intensified.

He added that three medics were killed in an Israeli attack on Sidon in southern Lebanon later on Sunday.

“It is now very clear that the brunt of the devastation that has taken place either in the south or in other parts of Lebanon is being borne by the civilian population,” Khan said.

The Health Ministry also said three people were killed and two others injured in an Israeli attack late Saturday evening on Mashghara in the western part of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Meanwhile, one person was killed and four others were injured in an attack on Sahmar. This also happened in West Bekaa on the same night.

Lebanese official media also reported that an Israeli strike hit a house in the eastern city of Baalbek, which was not preceded by a forced relocation order from the Israeli forces.

“Enemy aircraft launched an attack on a house in the city’s al-Laqees district,” Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

Since September 27, the Israeli military has issued several evacuation warnings and urged residents to leave their homes. While the Israeli military claims that evacuation orders are aimed at protecting Lebanese civilians, in reality evacuation orders are not always issued.

The Israeli military said its recent strikes hit Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the Tire and Baalbek areas, including fighters, “operational housing” and weapons caches.

In retaliation, Hezbollah said it launched rocket attacks on Israeli forces in the town of Shebaa in southern Lebanon and the settlement of HaGoshrim in northern Israel. The attacks occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Israel has been fighting with Hezbollah since October 2023, but it has escalated dramatically since the end of September this year. Israel has intensified and expanded its bombing campaign, and Hezbollah has increased daily rocket and drone attacks on Israel.

At least 3,186 people have been killed and 14,078 injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since the war on Gaza began.

Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of Hamas and in solidarity with the people of Gaza, where Israel’s war continues to rage. A pre-dawn attack by Israeli forces on the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip killed 33 people, including 13 children, on Sunday.

Efforts to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have so far failed as both warring parties blame each other.

Qatar, a country that played a key role in holding ceasefire talks, said on Saturday that Doha would suspend its mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel until the parties show “their willingness and seriousness” to end the war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, according to Saudi state media, Arab and Muslim leaders have begun arriving in Saudi Arabia for a summit scheduled for Monday that will focus on Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, participants are expected to “discuss the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian territories and the Lebanese Republic, as well as current developments in the region.”