Israeli Missile Strikes Kills Six Women and Children in Eastern Lebanon Neighborhood

All slain are members of the same family, at least 8 others wounded

Israeli attacks continue to escalate across Lebanon, with air strikes targeting not just military targets, but also hitting residential neighborhoods. Today, two missiles struck a house in the densely populated al-Nabi An’am neighborhood of Baalbek, a major city in eastern Lebanon.

The strike killed six members of the Othman family, all women and children, and wounded at least eight other civilians. There was no indication that anything other than the civilian house was hit.

Israel, as is increasingly the case, offered no comments on the matter. Recent strikes have been presented as targeting Hezbollah, especially attacks on civilian neighborhoods. But there was no suggestion any Hezbollah were in the al-Nabi An’am area at the time.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry confirmed the incident, saying the strike killed six civilians, “including a child.” The state-run National News Agency also added that the house belonged to Ali Abdo Othman.

Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, begun last month, initially centered on southern Lebanon, but in recent weeks has been been hitting the capital city of Beirut and other major cities across the country. This includes attacking civilian targets in the majority Christian north.

The result is a growing number of civilian casualties, and over a million people displaced, with large numbers fleeing into neighboring Syria and ultimately going to Iraq.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.