2024-02-26T10:41:56+00:00
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/ Two security sources told Reuters on Monday that Israel launched at least two simultaneous airstrikes around the Lebanese city of Baalbek on Monday, in the first bombing of eastern Lebanon since the outbreak of hostilities in the region following the start of the war in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli bombing targeted the surroundings of the city of Baalbek, which is Hezbollah’s main stronghold in eastern Lebanon.
A security source told Agence France-Presse that one of the Israeli raids “targeted a building belonging to a civilian institution in Hezbollah in the suburbs of the city of Baalbek,” in the second Israeli targeting outside the south since the exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel began amid the war in Gaza.
Local media reported that the Israeli bombing of Baalbek, eastern Lebanon, was carried out by a drone that launched missiles.
For its part, Hezbollah announced that it had shot down an Israeli drone with a surface-to-air missile in southern Lebanon, stressing that it would continue to confront Israeli aircraft targeting several areas since the exchange of fire began on the border amid the war in the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah said in a statement that the party’s air defense unit shot down a large Israeli “Hermes 450” drone with a surface-to-air missile over the Iqlim al-Tuffah area.
Since the day after the unprecedented attack launched by Hamas on Israel on October 7, the Lebanese border has witnessed an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel.
The escalation over more than 4 months has forced tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border to evacuate their homes.
In Lebanon, more than 89,000 people were displaced from their towns, especially those on the border, while the escalation resulted in the deaths of at least 278 people, including 193 Hezbollah fighters and 44 civilians, according to a tally compiled by France Presse.