Israeli airstrikes near the Syrian border killed a Syrian driver on Sunday, according to a security source, while four people were wounded by overnight fire in eastern Lebanon. Fears of an all-out conflict have surged as Israel has launched deeper airstrikes into eastern Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah strongholds in the Bekaa Valley multiple times.
Israeli fighter jets targeted a vehicle in the eastern Bekaa area of Suwairi, killing its Syrian driver, as reported by a security source to AFP under anonymity due to security concerns. Earlier reports from Lebanon’s National News Agency indicated the driver was injured before confirming his death. He was delivering food in a car belonging to a supermarket owner.
Additionally, an AFP correspondent reported that Israeli airstrikes near Lebanon’s eastern city of Baalbek wounded four people, with one strike hitting a two-story building. The Israeli military stated that fighter jets targeted a Hezbollah manufacturing site containing weapons in Baalbek. The strikes hit a deserted Hezbollah center, wounding four residents in nearby buildings.
Hezbollah retaliated by firing over 60 Katyusha-type rockets at two Israeli military positions in the occupied Golan Heights. This strike at Al-Osseira, about 100 kilometers from the Israeli-Lebanese border, ended a ten-day period of relative calm.
Hezbollah and Israeli forces began clashing on October 8, following the surprise Hamas attack on southern Israel, which started the current Gaza war. Hezbollah has continued its attacks, stating it will cease only if there is a Gaza ceasefire. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that a potential truce in Gaza would not alter Israel’s objective of pushing Hezbollah back from its northern border by force or diplomacy.
The ongoing conflict has killed at least 323 people in Lebanon, including 56 civilians, and displaced tens of thousands in southern Lebanon.
