- The Israeli Air Force carried out an attack deep in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah near Baalbek.
- At least two people were killed in the airstrike, Hezbollah officials said.
- The airstrikes in Lebanon are among the heaviest since the Israel-Hamas war began more than four months ago.
The Israeli military announced on Monday that its air force had struck militant Hezbollah targets “deep in Lebanon.” Residents reported an explosion near the northeastern city of Baalbek. At least two people were killed in the airstrike, Hezbollah officials said.
The attack is one of the deepest into Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war began more than four months ago. The announcement came a day after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant vowed to step up attacks on Lebanon’s Hezbollah even if a ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip is reached.
The airstrike comes shortly after Hezbollah announced it had shot down an Israeli drone, raising tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border as ceasefire talks are underway in the Gaza Strip. Probability is high.
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Lebanese security officials said the Israeli Air Force carried out three airstrikes targeting a convoy of trucks on the outskirts of the village of Budai, near Baalbek. Budai is a Hezbollah stronghold.
On February 26, 2024, Lebanese army vehicles block the road leading to a destroyed warehouse outside the Lebanese Hezbollah stronghold village of Buday. The Israeli military said its air force had struck targets belonging to the Hezbollah militant group “deep in Lebanon.” ” residents reported an explosion near the northeastern city of Baalbek. (AP photo)
Hezbollah officials confirmed three attacks near Baalbek. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters. He said at least two people were killed in the strikes, one of which hit a food warehouse that is part of Hezbollah’s Sajjad project, which sells to people in its strongholds at below-market prices.
The airstrike near Baalbek came less than two hours after Hezbollah announced on Monday that it had shot down an Israeli Elbit Hermes 450 drone over its base in the southern Lebanese province. Another missile fired by Hezbollah at a drone was intercepted by Israel and landed near a synagogue in a town near Nazareth in northern Israel. There were no injuries or damage.
The Israeli military said in a statement later in the day that its warplanes had struck a site used by Hezbollah in the eastern Bekaa Valley. The attack was said to be in retaliation for Hezbollah’s firing of surface-to-air missiles at Israeli drones.
Since the breakup between Israel and Hamas on October 7, Hezbollah has been engaged in a gunfight with Israeli forces along the border.
The attack on Baalbek, deep in Lebanon, is the most serious since the Beirut airstrike in early January that killed Hamas leader Saleh Alouri.
Hezbollah, which has been in a gunfight with Israel throughout the war in Gaza, has announced that it will cease its near-daily attacks on Israel if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza. Hezbollah is an ally of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
But Israeli Defense Minister Gallant said on Sunday that anyone who thinks the temporary ceasefire in Gaza also applies to the northern front is “misguided.”
Western diplomats have put forward a series of proposals for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, most of which depend on Hezbollah moving its troops four to six miles from the border. There is.
This is due to the increased presence of the Lebanese army and the move by Israel from disputed territory along the border, which Lebanon claims has occupied a narrow swath of Lebanese territory since Israel withdrew from the rest of the south in 2000. This will be done in addition to negotiations for the military to withdraw. .
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Abdallah Bouhabib, Lebanon’s caretaker foreign minister, said on Monday that he had discussed France’s proposals for the southern region with his country’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati, adding that the Lebanese side was working on a response that France should respond to by next week.
“We welcome France’s role,” Bouhabib said, adding that Lebanon wanted a solution that included the disputed Chebaa farm and Kfar Chouba hills, which Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war. added. Beirut insists that the disputed territory belongs to Lebanon and that Israel should withdraw from it.
Hezbollah has said it is open to the offer, but there will be no deal in Lebanon until a ceasefire is reached in Gaza.
