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Israel-Hamas war latest: Israeli airstrike kills 20 in Lebanon

Nineteen Syrian refugees and a Lebanese national were killed in northeast Lebanon after an Israeli airstrike destroyed a building housing workers, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Thursday.

State-run National News Agency earlier quoted the mayor of the village of Younine as saying that the bodies of 23 Syrian citizens were pulled out from under the rubble. It added that four other Syrians and four Lebanese were wounded in the same airstrike late Wednesday in the village.

The strike came after Israel’s military chief said Wednesday that the country was preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon as Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel.

Late Wednesday, the United States, France and other allies jointly called for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire to allow for negotiations as fears grow that the violent escalation in recent days — following 11 months of cross-border exchange of fire — could grow into an all-out war.

The Lebanese health minister said Israeli strikes killed more than 72 people Wednesday. That raised the death toll since Monday to more than 630, with more than 2,000 people wounded, and thousands in southern Lebanon seeking refuge.

The United Nations says over 90,000 people have been displaced by five days of Israeli strikes on Lebanon, bringing the total to 200,000 people who have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas after it stormed into Israel, sparking the Israel-Hamas war.