Lebanese officials say an Israeli strike killed 23 Syrian workers and family members in Lebanon

An Israeli airstrike in Lebanon hit a building housing Syrian workers and their families, killing 23 people, Lebanese officials say. It was one of the deadliest single strikes reported in an intensified air campaign against the Hezbollah terror group.

The strike late last night came as the United States and its allies called for an “immediate” 21-day ceasefire to “provide space for diplomacy.” Israel has threatened to launch a ground invasion, and the increasingly heavy exchanges of fire could trigger an all-out war.

Lebanon’s National News Agency says the strike occurred near the city of Baalbek in Lebanon’s northeastern Bekaa Valley, which runs along the Syrian border. It quoted Ali Kassas, mayor of the village of Younine, as saying that the bodies of 23 Syrian citizens were pulled from under the rubble. He says four Syrians and four Lebanese were wounded.

The Lebanese Red Cross said it recovered nine bodies, while others were recovered by Hezbollah’s paramedic service and the Lebanese Civil Defense.

Israel has not commented directly on the strike but said that overnight jets struck some 75 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

The targets hit in the south of the country and the Beqaa Valley included weapon depots, primed rocket launchers, buildings used by the terror group, operatives, and other infrastructure, according to the military.