In the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 40 people around the eastern city of Baalbek in Lebanon on Wednesday, November 6, 2024. The Lebanese Health Ministry reported.
The Israeli official said that these airstrikes hit in the governorates of Baalbek and Bekaa Valley. These strikes were aimed at hitting the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah.
The reports say that several more airstrikes also hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on the same day in the evening.
Strikes Hit UNESCO World Heritage Site
These airstrikes resulted in several damages; one of the airstrikes caused serious destruction at an Ottoman-era building in the vicinity of the Roman Ruins in Baalbek. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the airstrikes in Beirut were targeted after the Israeli Defense Forces issued evacuation warnings. The Israeli military said that it hit the Hezbollah’s command center, weapon stores, and other infrastructure.
The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that the attack claimed at least 40 lives and left 53 injured, including 16 people killed in the village of Nasiriyah and 11 in the city of Baalbek.
Following the attack, Mohammad Mortada, the Lebanese Cultural Minister, told the directed general of UNESCO about the airstrike that hit the vicinity of the ruins of several Roman temples.
He also warned Israel over the destruction caused. “The destruction of this exceptional monument next to a UNESCO World Heritage Site is an irremediable loss for Lebanon and for World Heritage,” he added.
Meanwhile, reports also claimed that the Israeli strikes also damaged the famous 19th-century Palmyra Hotel in Lebanon, located near the Roman Ruins, which were also damaged. It killed at least two people there.
Commander of Hezbollah’s Forces Killed?
The Israeli military said that its aircraft carried out several precision strikes in the areas of Baalbek where Hezbollah’s operatives have a presence.
It also claimed that the strikes have killed the commander of Hezbollah Forces in the southern region of Khaim, along with several Hezbollah fighters.
Previous Attack by Israeli Defense Forces
Notably, this attack has come after the previous attack by Israeli Defense Forces, which took place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, in Lebanon.
The Lebanese Civil Defense Agency reported that at least 30 bodies, including seven women and three children, have been recovered after the Israeli Forces carried out an attack at a four-story building in Barja, a Sunni Muslim coastal town south of Beirut.
The Israeli military said that the attack has also struck the ‘terror infrastructure’ belonging to Hezbollah. The Lebanese military reported a death toll of 20 from air strikes that hit Berja late on Tuesday.
What Hezbollah Leader Said?
Considering the following attacks, Hezbollah’s new Secretary General Naim Qassem said in his latest speech that Hezbollah had tens of thousands of resistance combats, which are ready to fight, and nowhere in Israel was ‘beyond the reach of our drones and missiles’.
“I will tell you very clearly that our conviction is that only one thing can stop this aggression, and that is the battlefield,” he said. He also added that he did not believe that political action would end the conflict.
Did Hezbollah hit back Israel?
Meanwhile, late on Wednesday, the Israeli military said that Hezbollah has targeted about 170 rockets into Northern and Central Israel.
According to the Israeli local media, one of the strikes a car park near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport. The Israeli Airport Authority reported that it didn’t affect any of their operations. Hezbollah said it had targeted the Tzifin military base near the airport.
Additionally, the large section of a rocket struck a parked car in the town of Raanana, Tel Aviv.
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