Israeli attacks have killed at least 12 people in eastern and southern Lebanon, in the latest breach of a 2024 ceasefire deal with the armed group, Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported on Friday that air strikes on the Bekaa Valley in the east of the country killed at least six people and left more than 25 wounded, who were “distributed across the region’s hospitals”, according to NNA.
NNA later updated the preliminary death toll to “more than 10” with at least 30 wounded from the attack on a building in the town of Riyaq, located in the Bekaa governorate.
A search operation for survivors is still ongoing at the site, NNA said.
Israel’s army said it hit “Hezbollah command centres” in the Baalbek area of Bekaa, while a Hezbollah source told news agency AFP that a military leader from the armed group was among the dead.
Earlier on Friday, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health said at least two people were killed in an Israeli attack on the Ein el-Hilweh camp, the country’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, which is located on the outskirts of the southern city of Sidon.
NNA reported that an “Israeli drone” had targeted the Hittin neighbourhood of the camp.
The Israeli army said in a statement that its forces had “struck a Hamas command centre from which terrorists operated” in response to “repeated violations of the ceasefire understandings”.
Hamas condemned the attack, which it said led to “civilian” casualties.
NNA reported that the strike on the refugee camp caused “significant damage” to a building that had previously been used by the joint Palestinian force responsible for the camp’s security, but was now being rented by an individual to “operate a kitchen distributing food aid”.
