Crime
Israeli Military Conducts Air Strikes in Lebanon's Baalbek City Amid Escalating Tensions
Israeli air strikes target Baalbek in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, hitting fuel depots and causing mass evacuations. Hezbollah vows to continue war plan against Israel. Strategic area for group's operations.
6 min read
Originally published by nationnews.com (opens in new tab)
Israel has carried out heavy air strikes in Lebanon’s historic city of Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa Valley, after tens of thousands residents fled in response to evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military.
Mayor Mustafa al-Shell told the BBC that more than 20 strikes were reported in the Baalbek area, with five inside the city itself, where there is a Unesco-listed ancient Roman temple complex.
Lebanon’s state news agency said diesel tanks were also hit in the neighbouring town of Douris, where Mr Shell said pictures showed a huge column of black smoke rising into the air.
The Israeli military said it struck fuel depots belonging to Hezbollah in the Bekaa Valley, without giving details.
The attacks came as Hezbollah’s new secretary-general said the group would continue its war plan against Israel under his leadership and that it would not “cry out” for a ceasefire.
Speaking a day after his appointment was announced, Naim Qassem said he would follow the agenda of his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut last month.
Qassem made the speech from an undisclosed location amid reports suggesting he had fled to Iran, which is Hezbollah’s main supporter.
After weeks of an air offensive that has brought devastation to large parts of southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Israeli military appears to be expanding its campaign against Hezbollah in the east of the country – another area where the group has a strong presence and support.
Baalbek is a key population centre in the Bekaa Valley, near the border with Syria. It is a largely rural area and one of Lebanon’s poorest regions.
Hezbollah has established part of its infrastructure and recruited fighters from there.
The area is also strategically important for Hezbollah, as it is part of a route linking the group to its allies in Syria and Iraq and, ultimately, to Iran.
On Wednesday morning, the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for the whole of Baalbek and the neighbouring towns of Ain Bourday and Douris, warning that it would “act forcefully against Hezbollah interests”.
Roula Zeaiter, programme manager for the Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering (RDFL), said the orders sparked panic among residents, including displaced families from other parts of the country.
“Minutes after the order to leave came, the streets were filled with people grabbing their things, locking their homes and closing their shops,” she told the charity ActionAid.
