At least 12 people were killed and 24 injured in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley on Friday, Lebanese authorities and security sources told AFP.
Footage aired by local television showed a heavily damaged apartment building at one of the strike sites, suggesting the scale of the impact.
Israel said it had targeted “command centres” belonging to the militant group Hezbollah in the Bekaa region. Two security sources told Reuters that senior Hezbollah leader Hussein Yaghi was among those killed. Yaghi was the son of former Hezbollah MP Mohamed Yaghi. Hezbollah-affiliated media said his funeral is scheduled for Saturday.
The strikes are among the deadliest reported in eastern Lebanon in recent weeks and threaten to further strain a fragile US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The two sides agreed to a truce in 2024 following more than a year of cross-border clashes that culminated in heavy Israeli strikes against the Iran-backed group. Since then, both Israel and Hezbollah have repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire terms.
US and Israeli officials have called on Lebanese authorities to rein in Hezbollah’s weapons capabilities, while Lebanese leaders have warned that expanded Israeli military action could further destabilise the country, which is already facing severe political and economic turmoil.
Earlier on Friday, an Israeli strike also hit the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in the southern port city of Sidon, killing two people, according to The Guardian.
The Israeli military said it had targeted a “Hamas command centre” inside the camp. Hamas confirmed that two of its members were killed but rejected Israel’s claim, calling it a “flimsy pretext.” The group said the building housed a joint security force made up of various Palestinian factions tasked with maintaining order in the camp.
