3 Hezbollah members killed in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon

By Wassim Saifuldine

BEIRUT (AA) – Lebanese group Hezbollah said Monday that three of its members had been killed in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon.

Israeli fighter jets struck targets in the central city of Baalbek early Monday, marking a significant escalation away from the border confrontation with Hezbollah.

Hezbollah said two of its members were killed on the outskirts of Baalbek. It, however, did not provide any details about the circumstances leading to the death of the third.

Early Monday, Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah vowed that the Israeli attack on Baalbek “will not go unanswered.”

Baalbek is considered a stronghold of Hezbollah in eastern Lebanon, along the Syrian border.

The Israeli attack came a day after an Israeli airstrike on the Syrian border town of al-Qusayr, in which three Hezbollah members were killed.

Tension has flared along the shared border between Lebanon and Israel since the Oct. 7 cross-border offensive by Palestinian group Hamas last October. Nearly 29,800 Palestinians have been killed along with mass displacement, destruction and conditions for famine.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar