The past several days have seen a significant uptick in rare Israeli airstrikes deep into Lebanese territory, with multiple airstrikes having hit the Bekaa Valley in the country's east.
Most of the strikes were late Monday into Tuesday, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) describing that fighter jets attacked a "Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the area of Bekaa Valley in Lebanon" - resulting in massive fireballs lighting up the night sky.
"Following the strikes, secondary explosions were identified, indicating the presence of large amounts of weapons in the facilities struck," the Israeli army said.
These strikes occurred more than 40 miles from the Israeli border, and Israeli typically launches such rare long-range operations in response to deadly Hezbollah rocket attacks. This latest escalation came after a Hezbollah attack killed a 45-year old IDF Warrant Officer in the Western Galilee.
As for the latest IDF attacks on Bekaa, Lebanon’s health ministry said in the aftermath that eight people total, including two Syrian children, were wounded. Hezbollah then retaliated with some 200 rockets fired at Israel on Tuesday.
"Hezbollah said the attack was in response to an Israeli strike deep into Lebanon on Tuesday night that killed one and injured 19," AP reports. "On Tuesday, Hezbollah launched more than 200 projectiles toward Israel, after Israel targeted a Hezbollah weapons depot some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the border, a significant increase in the daily skirmishes."
Wednesday has seen at least 50 Hezbollah rockets fired on northern Israel, reportedly in response to the IDF assassinating a top Palestinian official from the West Bank who was in southern Lebanon when his vehicle was struck. The targeted killing happened outside the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon. Al Jazeera's correspondent details:
The strike targeted Khalil al-Maqdah, a commander in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a loose coalition of Palestinian groups that believe in armed resistance. The Martyrs Brigades issued a statement, calling [al-Maqdah] a commander who played a key role in supporting the Palestinian people and supporting Palestinian resistance in the West Bank.
A short while ago, we saw the Lebanese army take away the car that [al-Maqdah] was targeted in.
Israel has been escalating its attacks as of late, expanding the scope of its attacks. And clearly there’s no front line any longer.
Al Jazeera concludes after this latest that "Targeted killings are becoming a near-daily occurrence."
Below: Hezbollah arms depot struck, far away from Israeli border...
بالفيديو: أول لحظات الغارات على #البقاع pic.twitter.com/LqrqEPUcxX
— كواليس بيروت - Kawalis Beirut (@KawalisBeirut) August 19, 2024
As both sides slide closer to potential all-out war, which could eventually witness an Israeli military invasion of southern Lebanon, the AP tallies that "The exchanges have killed more than 500 people in Lebanon — mostly militants but also including around 100 civilians and non-combatants — and 23 soldiers and 26 civilians in Israel."
