Israel Strikes ‘Hezbollah Sites’ in Baalbek Region After Drone Incident

Israel’s military confirmed on Sunday that it targeted Hezbollah locations in eastern Lebanon, a region where the Iran-supported organization is prominently active. This was in response to the downing of one of its drones.

According to a source familiar with Hezbollah, speaking to an AFP correspondent in the Baalbek area of eastern Lebanon, the Israeli strikes hit areas in Janta and Sifri in the Bekaa Valley.

The Israeli military announced through Telegram that its warplanes attacked a military compound and three sites associated with Hezbollah’s air defense network in that region as a countermeasure to their drone being shot down by a surface-to-air missile the previous Saturday.

The strikes occurred in the Bekaa Valley and the arid, mountainous area of Janta, which is near the Syrian border. Lebanese civil defense sources reported no casualties from these strikes.

This military action comes amidst ongoing exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since Hamas launched a significant attack on southern Israel on October 7, igniting conflict in Gaza.

Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, has primarily targeted Israeli positions near the Lebanon border. In retaliation, Israel has conducted more profound incursions into Lebanese territory, targeting Hezbollah commanders.

Hezbollah claimed it had downed an Israeli Hermes 900 drone over Lebanon on Saturday evening, correcting an earlier claim that it was a Hermes 450 model.

The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported that an Israeli strike targeted a hangar in Sifri.

This isn’t the first instance of such strikes; Israel also targeted Hezbollah in the Bekaa Valley in February after the group claimed to have downed an Israeli drone.

Hezbollah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, stated in a recent speech that the group had yet to deploy its “main” weapons and would continue its assaults until the conflict in Gaza concluded.

The ongoing skirmishes have resulted in at least 359 deaths in Lebanon, including mostly Hezbollah fighters and at least 70 civilians, per an AFP count.

The conflict has displaced many in both southern Lebanon and northern Israel, with the Israeli military reporting the deaths of 10 soldiers and eight civilians.

Additionally, the Hezbollah-affiliated Risala Scout association announced the death of a rescuer, wounded earlier in southern Lebanon. Furthermore, the NNA disclosed that a woman, previously injured by an Israeli drone strike in the village of Yarin, succumbed to her injuries.

These events have heightened concerns of a potential full-scale war between Hezbollah and Israel, reminiscent of their 2006 conflict.