Israeli strikes on Lebanon said to kill 12, including five Hezbollah operatives

Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley killed 12 people, the region’s governor Bachir Khodr tells Reuters, in the deadliest air strikes since last year’s truce ended months of fighting between terror group Hezbollah and Israel.

A security source tells Reuters that five of the dead were Hezbollah operatives. Khodr says seven of the dead were Syrian nationals, who often work in the agricultural fields of the Beqaa region.

Israel said the airstrikes deep inside Lebanon were aimed at stopping an elite Hezbollah unit from regrouping and rebuilding its strength.

The strikes in Lebanon’s northeastern Beqaa Valley hit military facilities belonging to the Hezbollah terror group’s Radwan force, where operatives and weapon depots had been detected, the Israel Defense Forces said.