At least 10 people were killed and 30 others wounded in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley late on Friday, February 20, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).
This comes after Israeli military confirmed the operation, saying it had struck Hezbollah command centres in the Baalbek area.
In a post on X, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the attacks were conducted in response to what it described as repeated breaches of ceasefire arrangements, without providing further details.
There was no immediate response from Hezbollah.
The NNA reported that Israeli warplanes carried out a wave of intense strikes on both the eastern and western mountain ranges in the Bekaa region, with powerful explosions heard across the area. The bombardment caused panic among residents as aircraft continued flying over the skies of Baalbek.
According to the agency, three strikes hit the Shaara area at the foothills of Lebanon’s eastern mountain range. One of the attacks targeted a building near the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Foundation on the Riyaq–Baalbek highway, levelling it. Additional air raids struck the plains near the towns of Qasr Naba and Tamnine al-Tahta, west of Baalbek.
In a separate statement, the Israeli military said it also targeted what it described as a Hamas command centre in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon. The camp is the largest and most densely populated Palestinian refugee camp in the country.
Hamas has not issued an immediate response. Palestinian Civil Defence officials in Ain al-Hilweh told Al-Araby TV that two people were killed in a strike on the Hattin neighbourhood.
The strikes come amid heightened tensions along the Israel–Lebanon border, where cross-border fire has continued since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, raising concerns about a wider regional escalation.
A ceasefire agreement brokered by the United States (US) in November 2024 ended months of fighting linked to the Gaza conflict. However, Lebanese authorities and local media have continued to report Israeli attacks in border and interior areas.
