Israel intensified its attacks in southern and eastern Lebanon on Sunday afternoon. Without waiting for the deadline its army had set for civilians to leave the targeted districts to pass, its air force attacked Baalbeck and nearby villages.
In less than an hour, the historic town was the target of no fewer than five successive raids, with two more targeting Douris, resulting in significant material damage.
The first strike on Baalbeck hit a structure on the Kayal Road. with two more targetingIn the Lakkis area, a second structure was completely destroyed, and the al-Rida restaurant, near the government hospital, sustained heavy damage.
In Douris, a building next to the Lebanese University was completely destroyed. No casualties have yet been reported.
Also, in the Beqaa, an Israeli strike targeted the Machghara plain shortly before 3 PM, as well as the town of Sohmor.
In the south, there were four fatalities in Ghaziyeh and Haret Saida. The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that an Israeli strike on Haret Saida left at least three people dead and nine injured.
The Israeli raid on Ghaziyeh, south of Saida, targeted a residential building, where Moustapha Ghazi, a member of the municipal council, was killed. A little girl was rescued from the rubble.
In Bazouriye, in the caza of Tyre, casualties were also reported following a strike, although no exact figures were given, and rescue workers were sent to the scene.
A series of raids targeted the outskirts of Burj al-Shemali and the Charniye neighborhood. Two drone strikes also targeted Tyre’s corniche shortly before 3 PM.
At around 1:30 PM, a house was targeted in Arabsalim, in Nabatieh. Earlier, the towns of Safad al-Battikh and al-Bayad were raided.
Israeli shelling also targeted the outskirts of the government hospital in Tibnine, in Bint Jbeil caza. Nabil Fawaz, President of the Tibnine municipal council, told AFP that the hospital was likely to be declared out of service in the coming hours due to the extensive damage caused by the Israeli strikes. The Ministry of Health also told AFP that the hospital had been severely damaged.
On Friday night, two people had been killed and several others wounded in a strike targeting a house near the same hospital, which had suffered extensive damage, as had the surrounding buildings.
Rescue workers managed to enter Khiam, where 17 people had taken refuge in a building while fighting raged between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli soldiers who had made an incursion into the village. All appear to have been killed. Rescue workers managed to pull five bodies from under the rubble.
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