Two Killed, Several Wounded as Israel Attacks Lebanon’s Baalbek Area for First Time

Hezbollah downs Israeli drone, fires rockets into Golan Heights in response

For the first time since the beginning of the Gaza War in October, Israel fired against targets in the Bekaa Valley, near the eastern city of Baalbek in Lebanon. At least two people were killed, reportedly Hezbollah members, and several others were wounded.

Israeli comments on the matter suggest they targeted trucks in the attack, while Hezbollah said the strikes hit a pair of buildings, one of them a warehouse belonging to a Hezbollah organization, and the other an empty three-story building.

The attack came following Hezbollah shooting down an Israeli drone over southern Lebanon earlier in the day. One of the missiles fired at the drone was reportedly intercepted, though Hezbollah ultimately brought down the UAV.

According to Lebanese officials, the wounded in the Baalbek attack included not just Hezbollah affiliates, but civilians and members of the Lebanese military. Two of the casualties included a soldier and his four-year-old child.

The Baalbek attack sparked a flurry of attacks between Israel and Hezbollah, with Hezbollah firing some 60 missiles across the border, which reportedly “targeted the base in the occupied Golan Heights.

There was no word of the damage done by the missile fire yet, although there was a report of a single Israeli settler injured when missile fragments from an anti-tank missile resulted from the fire.

Israel responded to the attacks from southern Lebanon with the assassination of Hezbollah member Hassan Salami, who was killed in the village of Majadel by a missile fired from an Israeli fighter jet.

Israel claims that Salami was in charge of firing rockets from southern Lebanon into northern Israel. Hezbollah confirmed Salami’s death but did not comment on his ranking or responsibilities as a member.

MP Mohammed Raad, a leader in Hezbollah’s political faction, issued a statement in the wake of the attack warning of “severe consequences” if Israel miscalculates the situation. He said Hezbollah would continue to operate within the boundaries of deterrence.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.