Major Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s Bekaa, Ain al-Helweh; at least 8 killed

Beirut: Lebanon said Israeli air strikes on the country’s east and south killed at least eight people on Friday, as Israel’s military said it had targeted militant group Hezbollah and its Palestinian ally Hamas.

A Hezbollah source told AFP that a military commander from the Iran-backed group was among those killed in strikes in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Israel has continued near-daily strikes in Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that aimed to end more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah. The Israeli military usually says it is targeting the group, but has also struck what it describes as Hamas positions.

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Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli strikes in the Bekaa “led to an initial toll of six dead and more than 25 wounded, distributed across the region’s hospitals”.

The agency earlier reported “heavy strikes” in multiple locations, including a raid on a building in Riyak.

Israel’s army said it hit “Hezbollah command centres” in the Baalbek area.

The attacks came hours after an Israeli strike on the country’s largest Palestinian refugee camp killed two people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, with Israel saying it had targeted Hamas.

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The NNA said “an Israeli drone” struck a neighbourhood in the Ain al-Helweh camp, on the outskirts of the southern city of Sidon.

An AFP correspondent saw smoke rising from a building in the densely populated camp as ambulances rushed to the scene.

Hamas response

The Israeli military said in a statement that its forces “struck a Hamas command centre from which terrorists operated”.

The military added it “is operating against the entrenchment” of Hamas in Lebanon and will “continue to act decisively against Hamas terrorists wherever they operate”.

Hamas condemned the strike, saying it caused “civilian” casualties.

It dismissed Israel’s claims as “flimsy pretexts”, saying the targeted building “belongs to the joint security force charged with maintaining security and stability in the camp”.

An Israeli raid on Ain al-Helweh in November that the military said targeted a Hamas training facility killed 13 people.

The UN rights office said 11 children were among those killed, while Hamas denied having military infrastructure in Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in October 2023 in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war, triggering cross-border fighting that escalated into two months of full-scale conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

Lebanon’s government last year pledged to disarm Hezbollah, and the army said last month it had completed the first phase of the plan in areas near the Israeli border.

Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rebuilding its arsenal, has said the Lebanese army’s efforts are insufficient.