Israeli attack on town in Lebanon’s far north kills 14 people: mayor | Israel attacks news from Lebanon

An Israeli airstrike on the town of Ain Yaaqoub in Lebanon’s far north reportedly killed at least 14 people and injured 15 others.

The Israeli missile that hit a building housing 30 people, including Syrian refugees, on Monday marked the northernmost point in Lebanon so far attacked by Israeli forces since fighting began in October 2023.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Health (MoPH) initially said eight people were killed and 14 others were injured, which Ain Yaaqoub Mayor Majed Drbes later revised to 14 and 15 respectively.

“Displaced people lived in the two-story house,” Rony al-Hage, a local official, told AFP.

“Rescue and debris clearance work is still ongoing,” al-Hage said.

Earlier on Monday, at least seven people were killed and seven others injured in an Israeli attack on Saksakiyeh in Sidon district in southern Lebanon, the MoPH said. Additionally, a total of 54 people were killed and 56 injured in Israeli strikes across the country on Sunday.

So far, 3,243 people have been killed and 14,134 injured in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since October 2023.

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reported from the Lebanese capital Beirut that Syrian refugees and displaced people from other parts of Lebanon had fled to Ain Yaaqoub, about 10 km (6.2 miles) from the Syrian border.

“There are so many Syrian refugees in this area who have been seeking refuge there for years,” Stratford said.

“We also understand that this is an area that hosts Lebanese people who have been forced to leave their homes from southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut and areas in the Bekaa Valley in the east of the country due to Israel’s ongoing bombing campaign leave,” he said.

“What is interesting is that this area is not a Hezbollah stronghold and it is the second day in a row that we are witnessing an attack in such an area,” he added.

“This may well have been a form of targeted assassination, but again civilians are involved in this campaign and will be among the victims.”

Commenting on the attack on Ain Yaaqoub, the Israeli military said its forces had attacked a “military structure with a terrorist inside” and had taken measures to minimize damage to civilians. The reports of numerous victims are exaggerated.

The Israeli military also reported Monday that Hezbollah fired about 165 rockets into northern Israel.

According to the Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom, a total of six people were injured in the attacks in northern Israel, including a one-year-old child.

Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s leading newspaper, reported on Monday that Israel and Lebanon exchanged drafts of a planned ceasefire through U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, signaling progress in efforts to reach an agreement.

A Hezbollah official also acknowledged that diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire had been intensified, but said neither the Lebanese group nor the government had received a new proposal.

“There is a big movement between Washington and Moscow and Tehran and a number of capitals,” Mohammad Afif, the head of Hezbollah’s media office, said in a televised news conference on Monday.

“I believe we are still in the phase of testing and presenting initial ideas and proactive discussions, but there is nothing concrete yet.”