Dozens more killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Baalbek

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Dozens of people were killed in the latest Israeli air strikes on Lebanon’s eastern Baalbek-Hermel region on Thursday, as intense attacks continued across the country.
The Israeli army issued eviction orders for the entire of Baalbek city for the second day in a row, suggesting more attacks are imminent. Eviction orders were also issued for the Rashidieh refugee camp, in the south of Tyre, causing panic in the second largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.
Eleven people, including three women, were killed in a strike on Baalbek’s Salibi farm, the Lebanese National News Agency said, with three wounded people admitted to intensive care. Eight others were killed in a strike on the town of Bednayel. On Wednesday, the Israeli army issued an eviction order for the city of Baalbek and two surrounding towns. Mayor Mustafa Al Chal told The National that most residents had already fled to areas north of Baalbek.
On Thursday afternoon, four people were killed in a strike on the Baalbek town of Boudai, with three others killed in an attack on Sahmar, according to NNA. A “violent raid” was also reported on the town of Hermel, with no details immediately available.
Elsewhere, the killing of six Lebanese health workers and wounding of four others in three separate strikes across south Lebanon on Thursday brought the total toll of health workers killed and wounded in over a year of Israeli strikes to 178 and 279 respectively, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Hezbollah said it had launched several rocket and artillery attacks against Israeli forces near the southern town of Khiam on Thursday. It marked the fourth straight day of fighting in and around Khiam, a strategic town perched atop a hill in south Lebanon.
Khiam is notorious for its former detention centre, run by the Israeli-backed militia the South Lebanon Army
The latest attacks came as civil defence teams searched for victims of Israeli strikes under the rubble across Baalbek, including in the wreckage of a family home destroyed in Ras Al Ain. Volunteers recovered the bodies of a husband and wife after a five-hour search, NNA reported, with the operation expected to resume on Thursday as rescuers look for their child.
Israel has said it is striking Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has vowed to continue attacks against Israel over the war in Gaza. Delivering his first speech on Wednesday, new Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem, who replaced Hassan Nasrallah after he was killed in an Israeli air strike in September, said the group will continue its “war plan”.
Pledging to follow his predecessor’s agenda “in all aspects”, Qassem hinted at further attacks against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose private residence was attacked by a drone earlier this month.
“The enemy must know that its bombing of our villages and cities will not make us retreat, and the resistance is strong and was able to deliver a drone to Netanyahu’s room,” he said. “Netanyahu survived this time, but perhaps his time has not yet come,” he added, saying the group “will not beg” for a ceasefire.
While Israel has regularly struck Lebanon since cross-border hostilities began on October 8 last year, it intensified attacks last month, launching a campaign of air strikes that have displaced more than a million people, sent hundreds of thousands fleeing into Syria, and destroyed villages. It launched a subsequent ground invasion on October 1.
Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa valley, including the Baalbek area, has been particularly hard-hit by Israeli attacks. On Monday, air strikes killed about 67 people and wounded at least 120 across the Baalbek-Hermel region in the “most violent day” for the area since the war began.
In a visit to a hospital treating the wounded, locals told The National that the Israeli army rarely issues warnings before bombing areas in Baalbek, unlike in other parts of the country.
The strikes have left many villages abandoned, others overcrowded with displaced families and survivors including children suffering from third-degree burns and other severe wounds.
As Israeli strikes continue, the US has stepped up efforts to obtain a ceasefire. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed optimism about a ceasefire in “the coming hours or days”.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan published a document it claimed was a leaked proposal written by Washington, which would see Hezbollah withdrawing to the north of the Litani River and Israel removing its troops from Lebanon. Israel wants a strengthened version of the UNSC Resolution 1701 from 2006, which ended the last war, but was never fully implemented.
However Nabih Berri, the Speaker of Lebanon’s parliament who is an ally of Hezbollah, has said that there must be no change to the wording of UNSCR 1701.