BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities reported that Israeli airstrikes on the country’s eastern and southern regions killed at least 12 people on Friday. Israel stated that its military targeted Hezbollah and Palestinian militant group Hamas, claiming the raids struck command centers and operational hubs.
According to a statement from Hezbollah in the eastern Bekaa Valley, one of its commanders was killed during the raids. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said “Israeli enemy strikes” across several locations in the Bekaa Valley killed 10 people and wounded 24, including three children. Earlier reports from the state-run National News Agency cited six dead and 25 wounded following what it described as “heavy strikes.”
Israel’s army confirmed the attacks in a statement, saying it had targeted “Hezbollah command centres” in the area. The strikes came only hours after another Israeli attack on Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, Ain al-Helweh, near the southern city of Sidon, which killed two people. Israeli officials claimed that the target was a Hamas command center.
An AFP correspondent on the ground reported seeing smoke rising from a building in the densely populated refugee camp, with ambulances rushing to evacuate the wounded. The Israeli military said its operations were aimed at “the entrenchment of the Palestinian militant group in Lebanon” and pledged to “continue to act decisively against Hamas terrorists wherever they operate.”
Hamas Condemns Attack
Hamas condemned the strikes, accusing Israel of causing civilian casualties and rejecting the military’s claims. The group described the targeted building as belonging to the joint security force responsible for maintaining stability in the camp, dismissing Israel’s allegations as “flimsy pretexts.”
The incident echoes a similar Israeli strike in November 2024 on Ain al-Helweh, which Israel said targeted a Hamas training compound. That attack killed 13 people, including 11 children according to the UN rights office, though Hamas denied that any military installations existed in Palestinian camps in Lebanon.
Background of Recent Hostilities
Tensions have escalated repeatedly in recent years. In October 2023, Hezbollah began launching rockets at Israel in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war, leading to two months of all-out hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group.
Lebanon’s government has since committed to disarming Hezbollah, and its army said last month that it had completed the first phase of the plan near the Israeli border. Israel, however, accuses Hezbollah of continuing to rearm and has criticized Lebanon’s army for insufficient progress.
Friday’s strikes highlight the fragile security situation in Lebanon, where Israeli operations against Hezbollah and Hamas continue despite a ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024, intended to halt more than a year of hostilities. Civilians, particularly in Palestinian refugee camps, remain highly vulnerable to the ongoing military escalation.
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