Lebanese state media says an Israeli strike killed 23 Syrian workers

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike in Lebanon hit a building housing Syrian workers, killing 23 of them, Lebanon’s state news agency reported Thursday. It was one of the deadliest single strikes in an intensified air campaign against the militant Hezbollah group.

The strike late Wednesday came as the United States and its allies called for an “immediate” 21-day cease-fire 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.