Israel strikes Lebanon's Baalbek for first time since start of Gaza war

Shafaq News/ At least two Israeli strikes hit near the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon on Monday, Reuters reported, this was the first attack on this area since the war in Gaza sparked regional tensions.

Israel struck Hezbollah targets near the Lebanese city of Baalbek on Monday, a security source told AFP, in the first strike on Lebanon’s east in almost five months of cross-border clashes.

“An Israeli strike hit a building housing a Hezbollah civilian institution,” in a Baalbek suburb, the source said to AFP.

The Israeli military said it was "striking Hezbollah terror targets deep inside Lebanon" but did not give more details.

The Israeli strikes had mostly targeted the southern border region of Lebanon, but they have moved further north lately, a Lebanese security source said to Reuters, “Monday's attack was an expansion of Israel's campaign.”

Lebanese TV station Al-Jadeed showed images of smoke rising from the Baalbek area on Monday.

Earlier Monday, Hezbollah stated that it had shot down an Israeli Hermes 450 drone over Lebanon with a surface-to-air missile. This was the second time it claimed to have downed this kind of drone.

Reuters reported that the Israeli military said on Monday that two missiles had tried to hit an Israeli Air Force drone over Lebanon. The first one was stopped by Israel's "David's Sling" Aerial Defense System, but the drone "fell inside Lebanese territory" after the second one.

Hezbollah said, “it had shot down an Israeli Hermes 450 drone in November. It also said it had taken over several Skylark drones, which are smaller spy drones also made by Elbit, in recent weeks.”

Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire along the southern Lebanese border since October, when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel to back its Palestinian ally Hamas, which is fighting Israel in Gaza.

The conflict has lasted for over four months and made many people flee their homes on both sides of the border.

More than 89,000 people in Lebanon have left their towns, mainly those close to the border. The conflict has killed at least 278 people, of whom 193 were Hezbollah fighters and 44 were civilians, as per a count by AFP.