Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill at least 10, including senior Hezbollah official
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The rubble of a building that was hit in January by an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Qannarit, on Feb 16.
PHOTO: AFP
BEIRUT – At least 10 people were killed and 50 wounded in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on Feb 20, two security sources told Reuters, after the Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah sites
The strikes are among the deadliest reported in eastern Lebanon in recent weeks and risk testing a fragile US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Shi’ite Islamist group Hezbollah, which has been strained by recurring accusations of violations.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it struck Hezbollah command centres in the Baalbek area, part of eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
In a separate statement on Feb 21, it said it had “eliminated several terrorists of Hezbollah’s missile array in three different command centres... recently identified as operating to accelerate the organisation’s readiness and force build-up processes, while planning fire attacks towards Israel”.
Hezbollah said on Feb 21 that eight of its fighters, including a commander, Hussein Mohammad Yaghi, were killed in the Feb 20 strikes in the Bekaa area.
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024 intended to end more than a year of cross-border fire that culminated in Israeli strikes that weakened the Iran-aligned group. Since then, they have traded accusations of ceasefire violations.
US and Israeli officials have pressed the Lebanese authorities to curb Hezbollah’s arsenal, while Lebanese leaders have warned that broader Israeli strikes could further destabilise the country already battered by political and economic crises.
Separately, the Israeli military said it also struck what it described as a Hamas command centre from which militants operated in the Ain al-Hilweh area in southern Lebanon. Ain al-Hilweh is a crowded Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the overnight Israeli strikes on the Sidon area and towns in Bekaa as a “new violation” of Lebanon’s sovereignty and a breach of UN obligations, urging countries backing regional stability, including the US, to press for an immediate halt to avert further escalation, the presidency said.
Hamas condemned in a statement the Israeli strike on Ain al-Hilweh and rejected Israeli assertions about the target, saying the site belonged to the camp’s Joint Security Force tasked with maintaining security. REUTERS
