Israel’s army said it was targeting a Hezbollah air defence unit after the militant group shot down a drone
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Israel carried out air strikes near Lebanon’s north-eastern city of Baalbek on Monday in the deepest attacks into the country since the Gaza war began on October 7.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said the strikes killed two people and injured three others, without giving details.
Reuters said two Hezbollah fighters were killed in the raid, citing Lebanese sources.
A security source told media two Israeli air strikes targeted an old building near Baalbek, about 75km north of the Israel-Lebanon border.
Videos shared on social media showed plumes of smoke billowing from the area.
The Israeli army said it struck several targets belonging to Hezbollah’s air defence unit in the Bekaa Valley “in response to the terror group shooting down a … Hermes 450 drone over southern Lebanon this morning”.
Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said Israel had widened its strikes by hitting Baalbek and other areas, and was seeking to “compensate” for the downing of its drone.
“Its aggression on Baalbek or any other areas will not remain without response,” he said in televised remarks delivered at the funeral of a Hezbollah fighter killed in recent days.
Shortly after the strikes, Israeli media reported a rocket fired from Lebanon hit a chicken coop in the border community of Shtula, injuring one person. They were said to be in a stable condition.
Hezbollah said it downed the Hermes 450 over Lebanese territory with a surface-to-air missile.
It was the second time the group has claimed to have shot down this type of drone. Footage shared online showed the weapon in flames as it plummeted to the ground.
The Israeli military said two missiles targeted an Israeli Air Force unmanned aerial vehicle operating over Lebanon. The first was intercepted by the David’s Sling aerial defence system but the drone “fell inside Lebanese territory” after the second was launched.
Also on Monday, one person was killed on the road to Mjadel Salem after an Israeli drone targeted his car. The death was confirmed to media by an official with the Lebanese Risala Scout association, which runs rescue teams and is affiliated with the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement.
Iran-backed Hezbollah opened a new front against Israel a day after the Israeli military launched an offensive in Gaza against its ally Hamas on October 7.
The cross-border violence has killed at least 278 people in Lebanon, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also 44 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, 10 soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to the Israeli army.
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