Following a series of new evacuation orders in southern Lebanon, Israeli forces carried out a flurry of airstrikes against east and southeastern Lebanon, including the Bekaa Valley, killing at least 12 people, including women and children.
The largest attack was against the village of Mashghara, and killed 11 people, wounding 15 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. A woman and two girls were among the slain in this strike.
The IDF offered few details on the strike, but claimed that it hit areas of Mashghara where “terrorist activity” had been identified. It’s not clear if any of the people killed were actually the intended targets, given a substantial number of civilians appear to be among the killed.
Damage around the residential areas of Mashghara , Lebanon | Image from X
The Israeli military carried out 76 airstrikes against Lebanon on Monday, following orders by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to substantially escalate the ongoing war in the country. A paramedic was also reported killed in one of the other strikes. There were also at least 25 artillery shellings reported against southern Lebanon.
The strikes were all nominally targeting “Hezbollah infrastructure,” according to the IDF. Many of the attacks, however, seemed to target residential buildings, as with the Mashghara strikes, in which 10 homes were targeted and struck.
Netanyahu announced the escalation Monday after members of his cabinet condemned the ongoing ceasefire and demanded the war be further expanded. Though Netanyahu has agreed to expand the war, it seems he’s not doing it at the expense of claiming there’s a ceasefire in place, but as the IDF has done for weeks of ceasefire will just be attacking and claiming that the ceasefire in intact.
