Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 40 Around Ancient Lebanese City of Baalbek

Over a week ago Israel imposed a full evacuation order on the entire eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek, a city which has seen constant human habitation for roughly 11,000 years. Scores have been killed in and around the city since then, and attacks have been ongoing in and outside of designated evacuation zones.

Today in another escalation of strikes, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported that at least 40 people were killed in Baalbek and the surrounding area, and that 53 were wounded. These figure closely agree with those reported by the governor there.

The governor also reported that there were at least 40 separate Israeli strikes across the Baalbek-Hermel governate. It’s not clear what specifically was being targeted, and Israel has not commented.

Rescue workers are reportedly still active at a lot of the sites, lifting the heavy stones and wreckage of collapsed buildings, trying to find survivors still buried in the debris. All this suggests the toll may well increase further in the hours to come.

There are also reports that one of the sites hit the al-Mansheya archaeological area. The strike was less than 200 meters from some particularly important historical sites, and officials say it is still too dangerous to check to see if any specific sites were damaged in the strike.

Today’s attacks came as Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem, said he does not believe any political action can bring about a cessation of Israeli attacks on Lebanon. He did, however, express openness to indirect talks if Israel ceased its ongoing attacks on the country.

Meanwhile, Israel has given no indication of halting its attacks and has reiterated calls for those in the southern suburbs of Beirut to evacuate. Israeli officials claim the area is ridden with “interests affiliated with Hezbollah,” which Israel will soon act to eliminate. Once again, no warning has been given about any of the sites around Baalbek, and so far, strikes appear to have hit both inside and outside of the pre-existing evacuation zones.