The death toll from Israeli airstrikes carried out on Thursday, February 26, on the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon has risen to two, with 29 others injured.
In a statement issued today, Friday, February 27, and reported by Lebanon's official National News Agency, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said the updated toll from the Israeli strikes on Baalbek stood at two people killed, including a Syrian teenager, and a woman who later succumbed to her wounds, while 29 Lebanese were injured.
The agency reported that Syrian teenager Hassan Mohsen al-Khalaf, 17, was killed in the strike that targeted the Beit Meshik farms area, west of Baalbek. The nationality of the deceased woman was not specified.
On Thursday evening, the Israeli army launched a series of airstrikes on Baalbek, claiming it had targeted eight camps affiliated with Lebanon's Hezbollah.
The strikes hit the towns of Shmustar, Bodai, Harbata, and Beit Meshik in the Baalbek district.
The Lebanese agency said the airstrikes caused damage to homes and commercial shops, stretching from the Deir al-Ahmar area to the commercial markets in the city of Baalbek.
The Israeli army stated that "the camps that were struck were used by the Radwan Unit in Hezbollah to store combat equipment, including weapons and rockets, and to conduct military training."
It added that "unit members underwent training in those camps on live fire and the use of various types of weapons, as part of preparations for emergency scenarios and for planning and carrying out attacks against Israeli forces and civilians," according to its statement.
Targeting Hezbollah
The Israeli army says it targets Hezbollah sites and positions through its near-daily operations deep inside Lebanese territory.
The two sides have been engaged in military confrontation since October 8, 2023, following the "al-Aqsa Flood" operation launched from Gaza on October 7 of the same year.
After the operation, Hezbollah announced what it described as a "support front for Gaza," amid the Israeli war there, before the conflict escalated into an Israeli ground invasion on October 1, 2024.
The two parties reached a ceasefire agreement on November 26, 2024, after a war that lasted nearly two months.
Despite the ceasefire agreement, Israeli strikes on Lebanon have continued almost daily.
