DUBAI: Two people were killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley area, the Lebanese health ministry said on Friday (Jan 31), after the Israeli military said it had struck several Hezbollah targets overnight in the Bekaa Valley and along the Syrian-Lebanese border.
The Israeli army said in a statement that the targets included a facility used for underground weapons development and another linked to arms smuggling into Lebanon from neighbouring Syria.
The Israeli military statement did not mention casualties.
Lebanon’s health ministry said 10 people were also wounded. Its tolls do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Hezbollah official Ibrahim Moussawi condemned the air raids, calling them “a very dangerous violation and a blatant and explicit aggression” and called on the Lebanese state to halt Israel’s attacks.
The strikes were the latest by Israel in Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreement reached in late November between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that ended more than a year of fighting between the two heavily-armed foes.
The agreement calls for the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon and says that all “unauthorized arms” and military infrastructure should be dismantled, starting with southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah, however, has insisted that the agreement applies exclusively to southern Lebanon.
