Lebanon says 60 killed in Israel strikes on eastern valley
At least 60 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, the Lebanese health ministry reports.
Officials confirmed that two children were among the casualties from airstrikes on 16 sites in the Baalbek region.
The ministry reported that 58 others were injured and that rescue operations were still underway in the valley, a known Hezbollah stronghold.
The Israeli military has not yet commented on the strikes.
In the past five weeks, Israel has launched thousands of airstrikes across Lebanon, targeting what it claims are Hezbollah personnel, infrastructure, and weapons.
Governor Bachir Khodr described the attacks as the “most violent” in the area since Israel intensified operations against Hezbollah last month.
Unverified videos on social media showed damaged buildings, forest fires, and rescuers searching for survivors.
In Boudai, residents shared videos online calling for heavy machinery to help rescue those possibly trapped.
Baalbek’s Civil Defence regional chief called the strikes a “ring of fire” in an interview with the BBC.
“It was a very violent night,” Bilal Raad said. “It was like a ring of fire suddenly surrounded the area.”
He added that the strikes had targeted “residential areas or places near them,” and said a lack of equipment had hindered search and rescue efforts.
In the town of Al-Allaq, 16 people from the same family were killed, he said.
Baalbek is home to the ancient Roman ruins of Heliopolis, a UNESCO World Heritage site where, in Roman times, thousands of pilgrims came to worship three deities.
A UNESCO spokesperson said that satellite image analysis showed no damage to the designated Baalbek site.
They added they were “closely following the impact of the ongoing crisis in Lebanon on the cultural heritage sites”.
Earlier on Monday, Israeli air strikes on the coastal city of Tyre left seven dead and 17 injured, Lebanon’s health ministry said. Israel issued a warning for people to leave the centre of the city.
Hezbollah said it clashed with Israeli troops near Lebanon’s southern border on Monday and fired rockets at a naval base inside Israel near Haifa.
Cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah broke out after the armed Lebanese group started firing rockets in and around northern Israel in support of Palestinians on 8 October 2023, the day after its ally Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel.
The Lebanese health ministry says more than 2,700 people have been killed and more than 12,400 wounded in Lebanon since then.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon in a dramatic escalation on 30 September to destroy, it said, Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure in “limited, localised, targeted raids”.
Lebanon’s government says up to 1.3 million people have been internally displaced as a result of the conflict.
