Lebanon’s Baalbek, where Israel has stepped up its violence, has suffered yet from another massacre [Getty/file photo]
Lebanon witnessed another fierce round of Israeli bombardment overnight on Friday, killing at least 52 people in the country’s main governorate of Baalbek-Hermel, including children.
At least 72 were injured in the strikes, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Twelve of the victims were killed in the village of Amhaz, while nine others were killed in Younine and eight in Bednayel. Dozens more were killed across several other villages and neighbourhoods.
The Israeli army did not issue evacuation orders before it struck the villages, according to Lebanese media.
The strikes come after Israel has intensified its strikes on Baalbek and the wider Beqaa Valley in recent days, home to a majority Shia population and smaller Christian and Sunni communities. Over 50 Lebanese were killed in strikes across the district throughout Friday, while dozens were killed on Thursday.
The region is home to some of Lebanon’s most recognisable landmarks, notably the Roman-era temples of Bacchus and Jupiter, which are both listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Local authorities have expressed concern over the risks posed to the sites, with fears that the historical landmarks are “being erased” amid Israel’s bombardment.
Two people were killed on Saturday in the vicinity of the Nabatieh governorate’s Tebnine governmental hospital, LBC and other local media outlets said, after Israel struck a house around midnight.
Several others were injured in the strike, while the hospital sustained significant damage.
Israel was carrying out airstrikes on the town of Bint Jbeil – which has been among the towns frequented targeted by the military amid its ongoing aggression on the country’s south.
Local media, as well as the Turkish Anadolu agency, said that several other towns located in the Bint Jbeil District were subjected to airstrikes, including Kounine, Al-Tayri, Sarbin and Haris.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into Israeli town of Tira early on Saturday, injuring 11 people, local emergency services said.
The Lebanese group said it also struck the Glilot military base near Tel Aviv around 2:30 local time, in a Telegram statement cited by Al Jazeera.
A number of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights and Israel’s upper Galilee region were also targeted hours later, the group said.
Also on Saturday, the Israeli military said it had killed two Hezbollah commanders in the area of Tyre in south Lebanon on Friday, with no immediate comment from Hezbollah.
The individuals were named as Moein Musa Izz al-Din, the commander of Hezbollah’s coastal regional unit, and Hassan Majed Diab, the commander of the unit’s artillery array, The Times of Israel reported
The escalation in violence comes after US efforts to introduce a ceasefire in Lebanon failed following an “unrealistic” and “unviable” plan which suggested that Hezbollah pulls back from Lebanon’s southern border, Israel and the group cease attacks and 10,000 Lebanese army troops deploy in the south.
Israel’s war in Lebanon escalated dramatically in late September, after 11 months of cross-border fighting with Hezbollah carried out in parallel with the war in Gaza since October last year.
At least 2,897 have been killed since, while over one million Lebanese – and other nationalities – have been forcibly displaced.
