BEIRUT (AFP) – Israeli strikes targeted eastern Lebanon, where Hezbollah has a strong presence, at dawn yesterday, a source close to the Iran-backed group said, but no casualties were reported.
“Israeli strikes targeted two areas in the Bekaa Valley, and Sifri,” the source told AFP in the Baalbek region in Lebanon’s east.
Janta is an arid, mountainous region close to the border with Syria, while Sifri is in the centre of the Bekaa Valley.
A source in Lebanon’s Civil Defense Department said there were no casualties from the strikes.
Hezbollah targets Israeli positions close to the border, while Israel retaliates with raids that go deeper and deeper into Lebanese territory and carries out strikes against the Shiite group’s officials.
The latest strikes in eastern Lebanon came after Hezbollah announced on Saturday evening it had shot down an Israeli Hermes 450 drone over Lebanese territory.
The Israeli military confirmed that “a drone operating in Lebanese airspace was shot down” by what it said was a surface-to-air missile and had fallen in Lebanese territory.
Israel launched similar strikes against Hezbollah targets in the Bekaa Valley in February after the group said it had shot down a similar type of Israeli drone.
