Lebanese officials accuse Israel of breaching the November 2024 truce as tensions escalate across eastern and southern regions
BEIRUT: Israeli airstrikes killed at least 12 people in eastern and southern Lebanon on Friday, Lebanese authorities said, in one of the deadliest escalations since a November 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that warplanes struck a building in Riyaq in the Bekaa Valley near Baalbek, initially killing six people and wounding more than 25. The death toll later rose as rescuers searched through rubble. Israel’s military said it targeted Hezbollah “command centers” allegedly used to plan attacks. A Hezbollah source told AFP that one of the group’s military leaders was killed.
In the south, an Israeli drone strike hit the Hittin neighborhood in Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon, killing two people and damaging a building used for food distribution. Israel said it struck a Hamas command center, a claim denied by Hamas, which called the allegation fabricated.
The violence comes despite a truce brokered by the United States that ended more than a year of hostilities in late 2024. Lebanese officials say Israel has carried out thousands of strikes since then, urging the United Nations to intervene.
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