Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill 40 people, health ministry says

BEIRUT – Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Nov. 6 killed 40 people near the eastern city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley, with more strikes hitting Beirut’s southern suburbs at dusk, according to the country’s health ministry.

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been exchanging fire for more than a year alongside the war in Gaza, but fighting has escalated since late September, with Israeli troops stepping up bombing of southern and eastern Lebanon and making ground incursions into border villages.

Israeli strikes in Baalbek and the Bekaa Valley killed 40 people and wounded 53, the health ministry said. The Israeli military did not comment on this information.

Israeli strikes also hit Hezbollah strongholds in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut. The area was hit at least four times on November 6 after the Israeli military ordered residents to evacuate several locations.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or details of what was hurt. The attack came shortly after Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem said he did not believe political action would lead to a cessation of fighting.

He said there could be a path to indirect talks if Israel stops its attacks.

“When the enemy decides to stop aggression, there is a path for negotiations, which we have clearly defined – indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and Speaker (Parliament) Nabih Berri,” Qassem said.

US diplomatic efforts to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which included a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, failed last week ahead of the November 5 US elections. former President Donald Trump has retaken the White House.

Rescuers are looking for survivors

Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 3,000 people in 2023, the vast majority in the last six weeks.

Lebanese rescuers searched a destroyed apartment building in the town of Barkha, south of Beirut, for bodies or survivors after an Israeli strike killed 20 people there late on November 5, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

Moussa Zahran, who lived on one of the upper floors of the building, returned to examine the ruins of his home. His burned legs were wrapped in gauze, and his son and wife were hospitalized after being injured in the strike.

“These stones you see here weigh 100kg, they fell on a child weighing 13kg,” he said, referring to his son and the apartment wall that collapsed on him during the strike.

It is unclear whether the strike targeted a Hezbollah member. There was no evacuation warning before the air raid.

On November 6, Hezbollah said it fired rockets at an Israeli military base near Ben Gurion Airport. Israeli media reported that a missile landed near the airport.

The Israeli military later said that dozens of shells entered Israel from Lebanon, some of which were intercepted.

Efforts to diplomatically resolve the conflict have stalled. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 5 appointed Israel Katz as defense minister, who has vowed to defeat Hezbollah so people displaced from northern Israel can return home.

Mr. Berri – a Hezbollah ally and diplomatic interlocutor – met on November 6 with the US and Saudi ambassadors to Lebanon to discuss political developments, his office said, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s interim prime minister congratulated the US president-elect without mentioning Donald Trump’s name.

Mr Netanyahu welcomed Mr Trump’s election, while senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Mr Trump would be scrutinized over his claims that he could stop the war in Gaza within hours as president. REUTERS