By The Lebanese health ministry has reported that at least 60 people, including two children, were killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley on Monday. The strikes, which targeted 16 areas in the Baalbek region, also wounded 58 people, with rescue efforts still ongoing in the valley, a known Hezbollah stronghold.
Governor Bachie Khodr described the attacks as the “most violent” in the area since Israel escalated the conflict against Hezbollah last month. Unverified videos posted on social media showed damage to buildings and forests ablaze, with rescuers searching for the injured. In the town of Boudai, residents were seen pleading for heavy equipment to help rescue people believed to be trapped under the rubble.
Bilal Raad, the regional head of Baalbek’s Civil Defence crews, likened the air strikes to a “ring of fire,” stating that the attacks had targeted “residential quarters where civilians live or near them.” He added that a lack of equipment had hampered search and rescue efforts, with the town of Al-Allaq being the hardest hit, suffering 16 casualties from a single family.
Baalbek, home to the ancient Roman ruins of Heliopolis, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has not reported any damage within the perimeter of the inscribed site, according to a UNESCO spokesperson. The organization is closely monitoring the impact of the ongoing crisis on Lebanon’s cultural heritage sites.
Earlier on Monday, Israeli air strikes on the coastal city of Tyre left seven dead and 17 injured, prompting Israel to issue a warning for people to leave the city center. Hezbollah claimed to have clashed with Israeli troops near Lebanon’s southern border and fired rockets at a naval base inside Israel near Haifa.
The current round of cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began on October 8, 2023, after Hezbollah started firing rockets in and around northern Israel in support of Palestinians, following its ally Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel the day before.
Since then, the Lebanese health ministry reports that more than 2,700 people have been killed and over 12,400 wounded in Lebanon. Israel invaded southern Lebanon on September 30 in a dramatic escalation, aiming to destroy Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure in what it called “limited, localised, targeted raids.”
The Lebanese government estimates that up to 1.3 million people have been internally displaced due to the ongoing conflict. As the situation continues to deteriorate, the international community is calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to diplomatic negotiations to prevent further loss of life and destruction.
