Israel strikes north Lebanon town, UN expresses concern about peacekeepers

By Artorn Pookasook and Maya Gebeily

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel expanded its targets in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people in an airstrike in the north, health officials said, while millions of Israelis took shelter from projectiles fired back across the border.

So far the main focus of Israel's military operations in Lebanon has been in the Bekaa Valley in the east, the suburbs of Beirut, and in the south, where incidents involving Israeli troops and U.N. peacekeepers have created tension.

The U.N. Security Council on Monday expressed strong concern after several peacekeeping positions in southern Lebanon came under fire amid clashes between the Israeli military and Hezbollah.

The strike in the Christian-majority northern town of Aitou hit a house that had been rented to displaced families, the town's mayor Joseph Trad told Reuters. In addition to the deaths, eight people were injured, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Rescue workers at the site of the strike searched through piles of rubble on Monday, where burned vehicles and trees could be seen strewn across the ground.

Israel ordered residents of 25 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River, which flows some 60 km (35 miles) north of the Israeli frontier.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting a military base in central Israel where four soldiers were killed on Sunday by a Hezbollah drone strike, said Israel would continue to attack the Iran-backed movement "without mercy, everywhere in Lebanon – including Beirut".

In central Israel, residents rushed to shelters as sirens sounded. The military said three projectiles that had crossed from Lebanon had been intercepted. No injuries were reported.

The Israeli military said about 115 projectiles fired by Hezbollah crossed from Lebanon into Israel on Monday.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah 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.

It has escalated sharply in recent weeks, with Israel saying its operations are aimed at securing the return of tens of thousands of people displaced from their homes in northern Israel.

Israeli military operations in northern Gaza have also increased, with Israeli forces killing at least 10 people while they were queuing for food in Jabalia, according to Palestinians medics.

ISRAEL AT ODDS WITH UN PEACEKEEPERS

As Israel has pushed its forces through south Lebanon in an attempt to wipe out Hezbollah and its military infrastructure, tensions have increased between Israel and the U.N. peacekeeping force UNIFIL.

The U.N. said Israeli tanks had burst into its base on Sunday.

Netanyahu on Monday rejected accusations that Israeli troops had deliberately harmed UNIFIL peacekeepers as "completely false" and repeated a call for them to withdraw from combat zones close to the border with Israel.

He said Hezbollah uses UNIFIL positions as cover for attacks that have killed Israelis, including on Sunday, when a drone attack on a military base killed four soldiers.

"Israel has every right to defend itself against Hezbollah and will continue to do so," Netanyahu said in a statement.

He said he regretted any harm to UNIFIL personnel but added that the best way to ensure their safety was "to heed Israel's request and to temporarily get out of harm's way."

The force's spokesperson on Monday said in a video posted on X that the peacekeeping mission would stay.

"We are staying ... we are in south of Lebanon under a Security Council mandate. So it’s important to keep an international presence and to keep the UN flag in the area," Andrea Tenenti said.

The Israeli military took foreign journalists into southern Lebanon on Sunday and showed them a Hezbollah tunnel shaft that was less than 200 metres away (650 feet) from a UNIFIL position, as well as weapon stashes.

"We are actually standing in a military base of Hezbollah very close to the U.N.," Brigadier General Yiftach Norkin said, pointing to the shaft's trapdoor in an area covered by undergrowth and overlooked by a U.N. observation post.

Since announcing its ground operation near the border, the Israeli military says it has destroyed dozens of Hezbollah tunnel shafts, rocket launchers and command posts.

UNIFIL has said previous Israeli attacks limited its monitoring abilities and U.N. sources say they fear any violations of international law in the conflict will be impossible to monitor.

Meanwhile, the Middle East remains on high alert for Israel to retaliate against Iran for an Oct. 1 barrage of missiles launched in response to Israel's assaults on Lebanon.

On Monday, the U.S. embassy in Lebanon strongly encouraged its citizens to leave immediately, warning that additional flights laid on by the government to help U.S. citizens leave since Sept. 27 would not continue indefinitely.

Australia warned its citizens not to travel to Israel and urged Australians there to leave the country while commercial flights remained available.

(Additional reporting by Abdelaziz Boumzar in Masnaa, Amina Ismail in Beirut, Adam Makary in Cairo and Michelle Nichols in New York; Writing by Daphne Psaledakis and Lincoln Feast; Editing by Stephen Coates)