BEIRUT: One man was killed and 10 others wounded in Israeli airstrikes targeting the Baalbek-Hermel area in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday.
The attack struck deep inside Lebanon for the second consecutive day, raising the threat of Lebanon sliding into open warfare.
Four Syrians working in the Bekaa Valley were among those injured in the strikes.
This is the third time the area, located more than 100 km north of the southern border, has been targeted since 2006.
The risk of a rise in hostilities was made clear in the aftermath of the attacks when the Lebanese Army decided to suspend joint patrols with UNIFIL in the operational area south of the Litani River.
A security source told Arab News that the decision follows an incident several days ago when Israeli troops fired on a joint UNIFIL and Lebanese army patrol.
The source said that little pressure was being placed on Israel to implement Resolution 1701.
After joint patrols were suspended from Monday until noon on Tuesday, the UNIFIL commander headed to the Lebanese army headquarters in Yarzeh to discuss the issue, while US, French, and Italian diplomats in Lebanon also intervened.
Amid rising tensions in Lebanon, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah held talks with a prominent Hamas delegation led by Khalil Al-Hayya, deputy head of the movement in Gaza.
An Israeli raid early on Tuesday destroyed a three-story residential building between the towns of Safri and Sarein, on the Rayak-Baalbek International Road, near the Al-Moussawi Foundation.
Several minutes later, an Israeli raid on a farm near the town of Nabi Sheet destroyed a three-story building.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X that fighter jets “attacked two Hezbollah command centers in the Baalbek region of Lebanon, where important equipment used by Hezbollah to enhance its weapons capabilities were kept.”
The raids were in response “to rocket attacks carried out by Hezbollah on northern Israel this morning,” he said.
Adraee said that Israeli forces had targeted a military building in the Khiam area in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah infrastructure in the Bint Jbeil area earlier in the morning.
Lebanese military forces discovered an armed Israeli drone that had crashed near the main road leading to Hrajel Kesrouaniyah in Mount Lebanon while heading toward the Bekaa Valley to carry out an attack.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it attacked Israeli air and missile defense command headquarters in the Kaila barracks, a missile and artillery base in Yoav, and surrounding artillery positions “using over 100 Katyusha rockets.”
The attack was in response “to Israeli attacks on our people, villages and cities, the latest of which was in the vicinity of Baalbek on Monday night and the martyrdom of a citizen,” the group said.
Israeli Army Radio said 70 missiles fired from Lebanon landed in the Golan Heights, and that Israeli interceptor missiles detonated in the airspace above border villages in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon.
Israeli troops stepped up their attacks on Baalbek late on Monday, carrying out a raid on a warehouse between Shamstar and Taria, and another raid near Baalbek at the Ansar town junction behind Dar Al Amal Hospital.
One man, Mustafa Gharib, died in the attacks and six others were injured.
Bashir Khader, the governor of Baalbek-Hermel, said the raid targeted an olive oil factory.
Israel claimed that it attacked “two Hezbollah compounds deep inside Lebanon,” which were linked to the Hezbollah air force.
Hezbollah advised people in the Bekaa region to stay away from the targeted areas, and to “leave relief efforts to the authorities charged with this task.”
Israeli operations in southern Lebanon included raids on the valley of Barghaz, Al-Dalafa in the Hasbaya district, the outskirts of Sarira, and Wadi Al-Saluki.
The outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab, Al-Khiyam, and Bint Jbeil were also hit, while artillery shelled the outskirts of Hula and Markab.
During the Israeli raids, there were frequent airspace violations, particularly in southern areas of Lebanon. F15 fighter jets were seen flying above many areas.
