Lebanon says 60 were killed in an Israeli raid in the Bekaa Valley in the east

At least 60 people have been killed during the Israeli attack in the eastern Bekaa Valley, said the Ministry of Health in Lebanon.

Two children were among those killed in strikes targeting 16 locations in Baalbek region, officials said.

The Ministry said that 58 people were injured, adding that rescue efforts are still ongoing in the village, which is a Hezbollah stronghold.

The Israeli military has not commented.

Israel has carried out thousands of airstrikes across Lebanon in the past five weeks, targeting what it says are Hezbollah operations, infrastructure and weapons.

Baalbek Governor Bachie Khodr called the attack “the most violent” in the area since Israel escalated its war against Hezbollah last month.

An unconfirmed video posted on social media showed the burning destruction of buildings and forests, as rescuers searched for the injured.

In the town of Boudai, videos on social media appeared to show residents pleading for heavy machinery to be sent to help people believed to be trapped.

Earlier on Monday, an Israeli airstrike in the coastal city of Tire left seven people dead and 17 injured, Lebanon's Ministry of Health said. Israel has issued a warning for people to leave the city center.

Hezbollah said it met Israeli forces near the southern border with Lebanon on Monday and fired rockets at a naval base inside Israel near Haifa.

Cross-border hostilities erupted between Israel and Hezbollah after the Lebanese armed group began firing rockets into and around northern Israel in support of the Palestinian people on October 8, 2023, a day after a deadly attack by its ally Hamas in southern Israel. .

The Ministry of Health in Lebanon says that more than 2,700 people have been killed and more than 12,400 injured in Lebanon since then.

The State of Israel attacked southern Lebanon in a surprise attack on 30 September to destroy Hezbollah's weapons and infrastructure in “limited, localized, targeted attacks”.

The Lebanese government says up to 1.3 million people have left their homes because of the conflict.