'Israel strikes village in north Lebanon'

Israel intensifies air campaign targeting Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon's east, south Beirut but not North

BEIRUT:

Lebanese state-run media said Israel struck a house in the northern Akkar region on Monday, one of the farthest attacks from the border in its war against Hezbollah militants.

Since September 23, Israel has intensified its air campaign mainly targeting Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon's east, south and south Beirut, rarely targeting the country's north.

"An enemy strike targeted a house in the village of Ain Yaacoub," some 150 kilometres (93 miles) from Israel, said Lebanon's official National News Agency.

Local official Rony al-Hage told AFP that "displaced people lived in the two-storey house" and that it was the northernmost Israeli attack since the full-blown war erupted. After it escalated its air raids, Israel sent ground troops in against Hezbollah in south Lebanon on September 30. "Rescue and rubble-removing operations are still ongoing," Hage said.

Residents of a nearby village heard a loud explosion and ambulance sirens