Israeli Strikes on Bekaa Kill at Least 40

Lebanon’s health ministry reported that Israeli strikes in the eastern part of the country, including Baalbek, claimed the lives of 40 people on Wednesday. Rescue teams are continuing their efforts to find survivors beneath the rubble.

According to the ministry’s statement, the attacks on the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek resulted in 40 fatalities and 53 injuries, though the numbers are preliminary. Among those killed were 11 people in Baalbek, including nine from Shikan, a densely populated Sunni area within the predominantly Shiite city, which is strongly influenced by Hezbollah.

An AFP reporter in Baalbek observed rescue teams working to locate survivors under debris in a poor neighborhood impacted by the strikes. The city’s historic Palmyra Hotel was also damaged in nearby attacks, with two fatalities reported there by the health ministry.

In addition, an Israeli strike on the village of Nasriyah resulted in 16 deaths, the ministry reported. The ministry noted that rescue operations are still underway to locate missing persons.

Israel’s military did not issue evacuation warnings for the eastern regions of Lebanon before these strikes. Since September 23, Israel has intensified its air raids on Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs, and the Bekaa Valley, after a year marked by sporadic cross-border hostilities. Ground troops entered southern Lebanon a week after the aerial escalation.

Over the past year, the escalating conflict has led to at least 3,050 fatalities in Lebanon, according to health ministry statistics.