4 injured in Israeli airstrike against northern Lebanon’s Hermel

By Naim Berjawi

BEIRUT (AA) - Three children and another person were injured in an Israeli airstrike Saturday in the Hermel district of northern Lebanon.

Warplanes “targeted the vicinity of the town of Kouakh in Hermel, resulting in the injury of four people, including three children,” according to the Health Ministry.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli warplanes launched another airstrike near the town of Hosh al-Sayyid Ali in Hermel, without providing details about casualties.

The Hermel district is located in the Baalbek-Hermel governorate in northeast Lebanon, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the Israeli border.

The attack follows intense Israeli military airstrikes in southern and deep into Lebanon on Saturday, coinciding with reports by Israeli media about a decision by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to expand the military operation on the northern front with Lebanon.

The Lebanese agency reported that Israeli warplanes targeted empty shops in the plain of the town of Saraaine in the Baalbek district, part of the Baalbek-Hermel governorate, with damage limited to property losses.

The Bekaa Valley is more than 120 kilometers from the southern border.

An Israeli drone targeted the town of Sarafand, about 30 kilometers from the Israeli border, added NNA.

The Lebanese News Agency also reported that Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on several towns in southern Lebanon, including Tayr Harfa, Jibbain, Chihin, Aytaroun and Kafr Kila.

- 11 Hezbollah attacks

Hezbollah, meanwhile, announced Saturday that it had carried out 11 attacks on military targets in northern Israel.

The Lebanese resistance group said in a series of statements on Telegram that it targeted the Zebdine, Rweisat al-Alam, Hadeb Yaroun, Mitat barracks, Yiftah Eliflit, Ami’ad base, Ma'ale Golani, Ein Margaliot and Ruweisat al-Alam military sites.

Tensions have spiked along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv presses ahead with an offensive against the Gaza Strip which has killed more than 41,100 victims since last October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala