First Israeli attacks on eastern Lebanon at least two Hezbollah

First Israeli attacks on eastern Lebanon, at least two Hezbollah members killed

Hezbollah said on Monday it had bombed an Israeli military base in Gaza for the first time since the war began in response to attacks in eastern Lebanon, leaving two dead in the ranks of the powerful Lebanese formation.

• Also read: Lebanon: Hezbollah says two rescuers and a fighter were killed in an Israeli attack

• Also read: 14 people are injured in Israeli attacks in Lebanon

Hezbollah “fired 60 Katyusha rockets at the Nafah base” in the occupied Golan Heights “in response” to Israeli attacks on the Baalbeck region in the Bekaa Valley, the pro-Iranian formation announced.

When questioned by AFP, the Israeli army said “dozens of rockets” had been fired from Lebanon.

Earlier, Israel announced that it had struck Hezbollah positions in Baalbeck in retaliation for a surface-to-air missile strike that destroyed a large Israeli drone over southern Lebanon that morning.

One of the attacks targeted a Hezbollah depot and the other targeted a building belonging to the Islamist group on the outskirts of the town of Baalbeck, known for its Roman temple, a security source told AFP.

Hezbollah announced the deaths of two of its fighters.

The Israeli army said its warplanes “targeted Hezbollah air defense sites in the Bekaa Valley.”

“These attacks were carried out in retaliation for a surface-to-air missile attack on a Hermes 450 drone that was damaged earlier in the day,” it added.

The Baalbeck region in the Bekaa region on the border with Syria is a stronghold of Hezbollah, which has a significant military presence there.

Hezbollah announced that its “anti-aircraft unit” had “shot down a large Israeli Hermes 450 drone” about twenty kilometers from the border with Israel.

Hezbollah member killed

Monday's attacks on Baalbeck are the first against Hezbollah outside the southern Lebanon region, where there has been daily violence since the war in Gaza began on October 7.

On January 2, an Israeli raid targeted a senior official of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, in a Beirut suburb. Saleh al Arouri was killed and six other Hamas members also died.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war between Israel and Hamas, Hezbollah has daily attacked Israeli military positions in support of its Palestinian ally, while Israel has carried out attacks on border villages and targeted operations.

On Monday, a car was attacked in al-Majadel, a village in southern Lebanon about fifteen kilometers from the border. A rescuer reported a death without revealing his identity before Hezbollah announced the death of one of its fighters.

At least 281 people have been killed in more than four months, including 196 Hezbollah fighters, members of allied groups and at least 44 civilians, according to an AFP count.

According to the army, ten soldiers and six civilians were killed on the Israeli side.

Hezbollah says it will stop its attacks on Israel once the war in Gaza ends.

But on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that a possible ceasefire in the fight with Hamas in the Gaza Strip would not undermine Israel's “goal” of pushing Hezbollah from its border north.