Forty-eight people were killed and 50 others injured in Israeli airstrikes that targeted the city of Baalbek and dozens of surrounding towns and villages in eastern Lebanon on Friday, according to Lebanese sources.
The Lebanese military sources, who spoke anonymously, told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes and drones carried out 34 strikes in the area, killing and wounding dozens of people.
Sources from the Lebanese Civil Defense told Xinhua that most of the casualties occurred in Baalbek, Al-Alaq, Younine, Badnayel, Al-Bazaliyah, Amhaz, Iaat, Labweh, Harbata, Nahle, Taraya, and Hawsh An Nabi.
They added that the Civil Defense teams, the Lebanese Red Cross, and the Islamic Health Authority are still working to remove the rubble of destroyed homes, where estimates indicate that 15 are still missing under the rubble.
For its part, Hezbollah said in a series of statements that it targeted Israeli gatherings in the al-Maslakh neighborhood, south of the southeastern Lebanese village of Khiam, with rocket barrages.
It added that its rockets also targeted the northern Israeli cities of Karmiel, Ma'alot-Tarshiha, and Kiryat Shmona.
The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since the beginning of the war on Oct. 8, 2023, has reached 2,897, while injuries went up to 13,150, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The Israeli army has been waging intensive attacks on Lebanon in an escalation with Hezbollah since late September.
