Israel Launches Deepest Airstrikes in Lebanon After Hezbollah Fires 100 Rockets

Jerusalem, 12 March, 2024 (TPS) -- Israel launched its deepest airstrikes in Lebanon since October 7, striking Hezbollah targets in Baalbek on Tuesday after the terror group fired 100 rockets.

The Israel Defense Forces said it hit two Hezbollah facilities in the northeast Lebanese area of Baalbek used as command centers and weapons storage.

“Hezbollah used these sites to store significant assets used to strengthen its weapons arsenal,” the IDF said.

Aircraft also struck Hezbollah facilities in Bint Jbeil and Khiam, both in Southern Lebanon.

The strikes were in retaliation for Hezbollah’s barrage of 100 rockets fired at northern Israel in the morning. Rockets crashed in open areas near Moshav Sha’ar Yashuv, Kibbutz Kfar Szold, Kibbutz Snir, and the Druze village of Ein Qiniyye as sirens sounded across the Galilee.

The IDF also disclosed that since October 7, it has hit 4,500 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and Syria. The military estimated that it has also killed 300 Hezbollah personnel, including five senior commanders.

Facilities hit include 70 command centers, 150 observation posts along the border, 50 rocket launching positions of significance, and 450 sites belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force.

“The IDF is constantly working to push Hezbollah’s forces and its systems out of southern Lebanon, and has carried out significant attacks in this area,” the IDF said.

The presence of armed Hezbollah forces in Southern Lebanon violates UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second War in Lebanon in 2006. Under that agreement, the Lebanese Armed Forces are supposed to be the only armed group south of the Litani River.

Since October 7, around 250,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their homes near the Gaza and Lebanese borders.

At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the remaining 134 hostages, Israel recently declared 31 of them dead.