Lebanon health ministry raises death toll in Baalbek strikes to 40

Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed 40 people around the eastern city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley on Wednesday, according to the country’s health ministry, and at dusk more strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Israeli strikes on Baalbek and the Bekaa Valley killed 40 people and wounded 53, the health ministry says. The Israeli military doesn’t comment.

Israel has repeatedly battered strongholds of Lebanese terror group Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut.

The Israeli military ordered residents in the southern suburbs to evacuate several locations on Wednesday. Two waves of bombing followed, one late Wednesday and another early Thursday.

Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV reports there were at least four strikes on Thursday. There is no immediate report of casualties or details on what was hit.