At least 10 people were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on Friday, as per several reports, in the deadliest attack in recent weeks that tested a fragile US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said on Friday that it struck Hezbollah command centres in the Baalbek area, part of eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. It said it had “eliminated several terrorists of Hezbollah’s missile array in three different command centres", alleging that they were planning to fire attacks towards Israel.
Hezbollah said on Saturday that eight of its fighters, including a commander, Hussein Mohammad Yaghi, were killed in Friday’s strikes in the Bekaa area. Two security sources toldReutersthat the strikes killed 10 people and wounded 50 others.
Hezbollah official Mahmud Qamati said the group’s only choice was “resistance", condemning the strike as a “massacre". In a speech broadcast by Hezbollah-run media, Qamati said, “What happened yesterday in the Bekaa is a new massacre and a new aggression, exceeding all the previous levels of aggression against Lebanon."
“What option do we have left to defend ourselves and our country? What option do we have other than resistance? We no longer have any (other) option," he added. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun also condemned the attacks as a “new violation" of Lebanon’s sovereignty and a breach of UN obligations.
Palestinian militant group Hamas also condemned the attack, which it said led to “civilian" casualties, saying the targeted building “belongs to the joint security force charged with maintaining security and stability in the camp".
Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, usually saying it is targeting the group but occasionally also Hamas militants.
US and Israeli officials have pressed Lebanese authorities to curb Hezbollah’s arsenal, while Lebanese leaders have warned that broader Israeli strikes could further destabilise the country already battered by political and economic crises.
The strike came after an Israeli strike on the country’s largest Palestinian refugee camp in the south killed two people, according to the health ministry, with Israel’s army saying it had targeted Hamas.
Lebanon’s government last year committed to disarming the group, with the army saying last month it had completed the first phase of the plan covering the area near the Israeli border.
Source: World News in news18.com, World Latest News, World News
