Entire family wiped out in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon despite cease-fire call

By Wassim Seif El Din

BEIRUT (AA) — Despite international calls for a temporary cease-fire, Israeli warplanes continued to hit Lebanon Thursday, with an entire family among the victims.

The official Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported that the previous night witnessed the fiercest Israeli airstrikes on Baalbek city and its surroundings in eastern Lebanon.

An entire family perished in a strike on their home in the town of Chaat, according to the agency, which did not specify the number of family members killed.

Israeli jets also carried out overnight airstrikes on the southern Tyre district, including on the towns of Tayr Debba, Bedias, Maarakeh and Bazourieh, eyewitnesses confirmed to Anadolu.

Strikes were also reported in the southern district of Nabatieh, including on the towns of Kfar Remen and Zawtar.

The continuation of the deadly Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon come despite a late Wednesday call by the US, EU, and nine other nations urging the two sides to agree to a 21-day cease-fire to "provide space for diplomacy."

Israel has pounded several areas in Lebanon since Monday morning amid an escalation in cross-border warfare with Hezbollah.

At least 610 people have since been killed and over 2,000 others injured, according to figures released by the Health Ministry.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border clashes since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,500 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.

The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar