Mother, 6 Children Die in Israeli Attack in Lebanon

BAALBEK, Lebanon — Israeli warplanes struck eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, killing a woman and six of her children in an attack aimed at suspected guerrilla bases of the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah.

Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai said in a statement that he had expressed sorrow to Lebanon through a third party. Israel said the killings were an accident.

As expected, there was retaliation this morning, when more than a dozen rockets hit the town of Kiryat Shemona in northern Israel. At least eight injuries were reported.

In Tuesday’s attack, Lebanese security officials said, one Israeli rocket hit a farm where a couple and their seven children were working southwest of Baalbek. The mother and six of her children, ages 2 to 13, were killed, the security officials said.