UPDATE – Israeli airstrikes kill 5 in Lebanon’s Bekaa

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Wassim Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) – Five people were killed on Tuesday in two Israeli airstrikes in Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry and local media.

A ministry statement said three people lost their lives and another was injured when Israeli warplanes conducted an airstrike in the town of Haour Taala in Bekaa.

Two more people were killed in a drone strike targeting a vehicle in the town of Talya, the state news agency NNA reported.

The broadcaster said seven more people were also injured in another Israeli strike in Iqlim al-Kharrub in the Chouf District of Mount Lebanon.

Israel has escalated its air campaign in Lebanon since late September against what it claims are Hezbollah targets in an escalation from year-long cross-border warfare between Israel and the Lebanese group since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.

More than 3,000 people have been killed and nearly 13,500 injured in Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel expanded the conflict by launching a ground assault into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala