UPDATE - At least 30 killed in new Israeli attacks on eastern Lebanon

ADDS NEW STRIKE, TOTAL DEATH TOLL

By Rania Abu Shamala

BEIRUT (AA) - At least 30 people were killed and several injured Wednesday in three Israeli attacks against eastern Lebanon, according to officials.

Eight people were killed in an initial assessment following an airstrike on a residential home in Bednayel in the Baalbek district, according to the state Health Ministry.

It added that “the successive Israeli airstrikes on the town of Sohmor in the Western Bekaa district resulted in an initial toll of 11 people killed and 11 others wounded,” without specifying the nature of the injuries.

Lebanon’s National News Agency later reported that an airstrike targeting a residential neighborhood in the town of Beit Salibi in Baalbek killed at least 11 people, with two in critical condition.

Israel launched a massive air campaign last month in Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets in an escalation in a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and the group since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.

More than 2,800 people have been killed and over 12,900 injured in Israeli attacks since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel expanded the conflict by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala