Israeli airstrike on northern Lebanon kills at least 14

BEIRUT (Reuters) -At least 14 people were killed and 15 others injured in an Israeli airstrike on the northern Lebanese town of Ain Yaaqoub on Monday, according to the town’s mayor.

The strike, which marks the northernmost point in Lebanon hit by Israeli forces since hostilities began in October 2023, hit a building where 30 people were residing including Syrian refugees, Mayor Majed Drbes told Reuters. He said some people were still trapped under the rubble.

Israeli military said on Monday its forces targeted a “military structure with a terrorist inside” based on precise intelligence, taking measures to minimize collateral damage, adding that reports of uninvolved casualties were exaggerated.

Earlier on Monday, an Israeli raid in Al-Saksakieh in Sidon District killed at least seven and injured seven more according to the Lebanese health ministry.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa and Laila Bassam in Beirut, Ari Rabinovitch in JerusalemEditing by Kevin Liffey and Matthew Lewis)