Key Points
- An Israeli strike in the town of Aitou has killed at least 21, according to officials.
- Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will attack Hezbollah “without mercy, everywhere in Lebanon – including Beirut”.
- Netanyahu also repeated his calls for the UN peacekeeping forces to leave combat zones in Lebanon.
Israel expanded its targets in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, killing at least 21 people in an airstrike in the north, health officials said.
So far the main focus of Israel’s military operations in Lebanon has been in the south, the Bekaa Valley in the east and the .
The strike in the Christian-majority town of Aitou hit a house that had been rented to displaced families, the town’s mayor Joseph Trad told Reuters news agency.
In addition to the deaths, eight people were injured, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Local television aired footage of the aftermath of the attack in Aitou, showing rescue workers searching through piles of rubble and medics lifting a victim, wrapped in white shroud, into an ambulance.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting the military base in central Israel where by a Hezbollah drone strike, said Israel would continue to attack the Iran-backed movement “without mercy, everywhere in Lebanon — including Beirut”.
The conflict between Israel and resumed a year ago when the militant group began firing rockets at Israel in support of Palestinian militants Hamas at the start of the Gaza war, and has .
Israeli strikes have killed at least 2,309 people in Lebanon over the last year, the Lebanese government said in its daily update. The majority have been killed since late September when Israel expanded its military campaign.
Israel says its operations in Lebanon are aimed at securing the return of tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes in northern Israel.
Netanyahu repeats call for UN peacekeepers to leave
There have been ongoing tensions between Israel and the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in south Lebanon, as Israel keeps pushing forces through the area in an attempt to wipe out Hezbollah and its military infrastructure while it also battles Hamas in Gaza.
The UN said on Sunday, the latest allegations of Israeli violations against peacekeeping forces.
on Monday rejected accusations that Israeli troops had deliberately targeted UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon as “completely false” and repeated a call for them to be withdrawn from combat zones.
He said the military did its utmost to avoid harming UNIFIL personnel, while striking Hezbollah fighters. “But the best way to assure the safety of UNIFIL personnel is for UNIFIL to heed Israel’s request and to temporarily get out of harm’s way.”
Meanwhile, the entire Middle East remains on high alert for Israel to retaliate against Iran for in response to Israel’s assaults on Lebanon.
The Pentagon said on Sunday it would send US troops to Israel along with an advanced US anti-missile system.
On Monday, the US embassy in Lebanon strongly encouraged its citizens to leave “now”, warning that additional flights laid on by the government to help US citizens leave since 27 September would not continue indefinitely.
UNIFIL has said limited its monitoring abilities and UN sources say they fear any violations of international law in the conflict will be impossible to monitor.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said EU member states had taken too long to condemn Israel’s attacks on UNIFIL soldiers, describing them as “completely unacceptable”.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged EU members to respond to a request by Madrid and Ireland to suspend the bloc’s free trade agreement with Israel over its attacks in Lebanon and Gaza.
EU countries, led by Italy, France and Spain, have thousands of troops in the 10,000-strong peacekeeping mission.
