Kfarhamam, Lebanon August 17, 2024. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
An Israeli airstrike hit a factory in a small town in southern Lebanon, killing at least 10 civilians, Lebanese officials said on Saturday, as people across the Middle East uneasily awaited reprisals against Israel by Iran and its allies for a pair of assassinations.
Israel’s military said it had targeted a weapons warehouse used by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, in the strike overnight on Friday. But the mayor of the town of Toul, where the attack took place, disputed that account.
The strike appeared to have destroyed the factory and an adjacent structure that was inhabited by Syrian refugees who worked there, as well as their families. Reporters who visited the site saw steel beams but no signs of weaponry.
The mayor of Toul, Saeed Mahmoud, said in a phone interview that the factory was used to collect steel spare parts.
The death toll was one of the largest so far in Lebanon amid the near-daily exchange of border attacks with Israel in the 10 months since the war in Gaza began. Hezbollah fighters and other Iran-backed militants have been attacking Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, leading to months of cross-border fire by both sides.
The tensions have escalated sharply in recent weeks following the killings of Fuad Shukr, a senior commander in Hezbollah, and Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader of Hamas, a group allied with Iran. Hezbollah and Iran have vowed to retaliate more forcefully than before against Israel, leaving the Middle East on tenterhooks for more than two weeks.
The Biden administration has led a renewed diplomatic push for a Gaza cease-fire, which U.S. and regional officials hope will prompt Iran and its allies to curb any retaliation and avert a wider regional war. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken was scheduled to travel to Israel on Saturday to help facilitate the talks, which are being mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
以色列空襲黎巴嫩至少10人死亡
黎巴嫩官員週六表示，以色列空襲了黎巴嫩南部一座小鎮的一家工廠，造成至少10 名平民死亡，此時中東各地的人們都在不安地等待伊朗及其盟友對以色列實施兩次暗殺事件的報復。
以色列軍方表示，週五夜間的攻擊目標是伊朗支持的黎巴嫩武裝組織真主黨使用的武器倉庫。 但襲擊發生地圖勒鎮的鎮長對這項說法提出了質疑。
罷工似乎摧毀了工廠和鄰近的建築，那裡居住著在那裡工作的敘利亞難民及其家人。 前往現場的記者看到了鋼樑，但沒有武器的跡象。
圖勒市長賽義德·馬哈茂德接受電話採訪時表示，該廠用於收集鋼鐵零件。
自加薩戰爭開始以來的 10 個月裡，黎巴嫩與以色列幾乎每天都發生邊境攻擊，造成的死亡人數是迄今為止黎巴嫩死亡人數最多的國家之一。 真主黨武裝分子和其他伊朗支持的武裝分子一直在攻擊以色列，以聲援加薩的巴勒斯坦人，導致雙方持續數月的跨境交火。
最近幾週，真主黨高級指揮官福阿德·舒克爾和與伊朗結盟的哈馬斯高級領導人伊斯梅爾·哈尼亞被殺後，緊張局勢急劇升級。
真主黨和伊朗誓言要對以色列進行比以前更強有力的報復，這讓中東地區提心吊膽了兩週多。
拜登政府重新透過外交手段推動加薩停火，美國和區域官員希望這將促使伊朗及其盟友遏制任何報復行動，避免更廣泛的區域戰爭。 美國國務卿安東尼·布林肯定於週六前往以色列，協助推動由美國、埃及和卡達調解的會談。
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