Beirut: At least 16 people were killed and 35 wounded in clashes between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on Friday and Saturday, as the conflict into its sixth day, reports said.
Hezbollah said it foiled an Israeli special forces raid on Nabi Chit village near the Syrian border, spotting “the infiltration of four Israeli helicopters from the direction of Syria” late Friday.
Fighters clashed with troops near a cemetery using light and medium weapons, Hezbollah added in a statement. “The clash escalated after the enemy force was exposed,” it said, as Israeli warplanes and helicopters fired about 40 strikes to aid withdrawal.
Hezbollah fired rockets at the retreating forces, according to a separate statement from the Iran-backed group.
Israeli media, citing unnamed sources, said the raid sought remains of airman Ron Arad, lost in a 1986 Lebanon mission. The Israeli military, while making no mention regarding Nabi Chit, claimed it killed commanders from Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force and hit weapons sites in Bekaa Valley and south Lebanon overnight.
Lebanon’s health ministry confirmed the 16 deaths from Israeli attacks, which pounded Nabi Chit at least 13 times on Friday, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The Bekaa Valley, a key Hezbollah area, has seen repeated Israeli airstrikes since October 2023, when the group launched cross-border attacks into Israel over the Gaza war.
Bombardments intensified after Sunday, as Hezbollah joined the US-Israeli fight against Iran following Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s assassination.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister warned of a “looming humanitarian disaster” due to Israeli evacuation orders for southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, displacing some 300,000 people, the Norwegian Refugee Council said.
Lebanese authorities report 217 killed and 798 wounded since Monday.
Meanwhile, Ghana said two UN peacekeepers from its UNIFIL battalion were critically hurt in a Friday missile strike on their base in southern Lebanon. President Joseph Aoun accused Israel of “direct aggression” against the UN mission, hit multiple times since October 2023.
French President Emmanuel Macron, leading global ceasefire efforts, called the attack “unacceptable” and urged all sides to honour Lebanon’s sovereignty.
