Israeli airstrikes targeted Hezbollah arms depots deep inside Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, the military said late Monday, as a Lebanese media report claimed that the threatened retaliatory attack for the killing of the terror group’s top commander could be back on track after Hamas appeared to reject truce terms aimed at ending fighting in Gaza.
At least three Israeli airstrikes hit towns in the Lebanon’s northeastern Baalbek District, Lebanese state media reported.
Videos from the scene showed a large fire and multiple explosions following the initial strike.
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged the attack, saying fighter jets attacked “Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the area of Bekaa [Valley] in Lebanon.” The strike occurred hours after an IDF officer was killed in an explosive drone attack on northern Israel.
“Following the strikes, secondary explosions were identified, indicating the presence of large amounts of weapons in the facilities struck,” the Israeli army said.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the strikes injured eight people, including two Syrian children.
A spokesperson for Hezbollah did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the strike, which came as an apparent response to a Monday morning sortie of five explosive drones flown by the terror group at Israel.
Most of the projectiles were intercepted, but one exploded, killing Chief Warrant Officer Mahmood Amaria, 45, and wounded several other soldiers at a military base near Ya’ara in the Western Galilee.
Israeli strikes deep inside Lebanon are relatively rare and generally come in response to deadly attacks. Nabi Chit, where one of the strikes in Baalbek reportedly took place, is some 70 kilometers (43 miles) from the Israeli border.
The IDF said Monday night it had also carried out a drone strike in southern Lebanon’s Deir Qanoun, near Tyre, earlier, killing a Hezbollah operative.
Hezbollah said in a statement that the attack killed Hussein Suleiman. The IDF identified Suleiman as a prominent member of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile unit.
Another Hezbollah cell was also struck by fighter jets in a building in Taybeh, the IDF added.
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