Israeli strike in south Lebanon kills 10, injures 5, says state news agency

BEIRUT – Around 10 people were killed, including two children, and five were wounded by an Israeli strike on a residential building in Nabatieh city in south Lebanon, state news agency NNA said on Aug 17.

The victims were all Syrian citizens, NNA said, adding that a final toll of the strike would be announced after DNA tests were conducted to determine the identity of the victims.

The Israeli military said the air strike targeted a weapons depot used by Hezbollah militants.

The strike came after ceasefire talks between Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israel in Doha paused on Aug 17, with negotiators due to meet again the next week.

Tensions have soared in the region in recent weeks after a rocket strike killed 12 children and teens in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel says Hezbollah was behind the attack, though the group has denied this.

Israel responded with the killing of a top Hezbollah commander in the suburbs of Beirut.

Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel, as has Iran for the killing in Tehran of the political chief of the Palestinian Hamas group, Ismail Haniyeh. REUTERS