Five Dead, 20 Wounded in New Israeli Strikes on Dhayra and Bekaa

Early Wednesday, Lebanon’s health ministry reported that Israeli airstrikes in the eastern part of the country killed one person and injured 20 others, following an earlier report that four people were killed in southern Lebanon.

These strikes occurred more than a day after similar attacks by Israel in eastern Lebanon, amid escalating tensions following the assassination of a senior Hezbollah commander by Israeli forces.

The health ministry stated that the strikes in the Bekaa Valley resulted in one death and 20 injuries, including a critically injured individual, eight children, and a pregnant woman who sustained moderate injuries.

A Hezbollah source, speaking anonymously, confirmed that several strikes occurred near Baalbek, including the village of Nabi Sheet, but did not specify the targets.

A local hospital source told AFP that five children, all under 10 years old and from the same family, were among the injured.

These midnight strikes followed similar attacks on Monday evening in the Bekaa region, which Israel claimed targeted Hezbollah weapons storage facilities. The attacks coincided with Hezbollah’s announcement that four of its fighters were killed, shortly after the health ministry reported that four people were killed in the southern border village of Dhayra.

Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, has been engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire with Israeli forces since the Gaza conflict began in October. While the violence has mostly been confined to the Lebanon-Israel border, Israel has also targeted the eastern Bekaa Valley, a Hezbollah stronghold near the Syrian border.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Israeli troops and positions, including Katyusha rocket barrages aimed at several Israeli military sites in northern Israel, in retaliation for the Israeli strikes, including those in Dhayra. The group also launched “squadrons of explosive-laden drones” and “intense rocket barrages” at Israeli positions in the Golan Heights in response to Monday night’s strikes in the Bekaa Valley.

The Israeli military reported that about 115 projectiles were detected crossing from Lebanon, along with several suspicious aerial objects, some of which were intercepted by air defenses. No injuries were reported, although the incidents caused fires in some areas. The military also stated that its air forces struck projectile launchers and several Hezbollah military structures in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s health ministry also reported that three emergency workers from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee were injured on Tuesday when an Israeli strike targeted their ambulance in southern Lebanon, causing significant damage to the vehicle. The ministry condemned the repeated targeting of health workers in southern Lebanon, noting that at least 21 rescue workers have been killed since October.

Concerns of a major escalation have grown since Hezbollah and Iran vowed to retaliate for the recent killings of key figures, including a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, both of which were attributed to Israel.

The ongoing cross-border violence has resulted in the deaths of approximately 590 people in Lebanon, primarily Hezbollah fighters, but also at least 128 civilians, according to AFP. On the Israeli side, including in the Golan Heights, 23 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, according to Israeli military figures.