The IDF struck a military compound used by Hezbollah’s aerial units near Zboud in northeastern Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said. These were the deepest strikes conducted by the IDF in Lebanon since the beginning of the war.
The compound contained an airstrip and several military structures used by Hezbollah. Shortly after the strikes, barrages of rockets were fired from Lebanon towards the Golan Heights and the Galilee, with Hezbollah saying it launched over 50 Katyusha rockets in response to the IDF strike.
معلومات عن استهداف محيط مستشفى الحكومي في منطقة زبّود، (بين بلدة القاع والهرمل) في البقاع الشمالي، بصاروخين.#الهرمل #البقاع #لبنان #بعلبك #العدو_الإسرائيلي #ليبانوس pic.twitter.com/w7HtJx8kav
— Lebanos (@lebanosnews) March 26, 2024
The strikes came hours after rockets were launched towards the IDF Aerial Control Unit in the Meron area in Israel's North, the military said on Tuesday.
No casualties were reported, and the event did not obstruct operational activities, the IDF noted. Hezbollah said it targeted the base in response to earlier IDF strikes targeting the Baalbek area in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon.
In addition, the military stated three launches were detected towards Avivim with no casualties at the scene.
Additionally, the IDF struck a military structure and terrorist infrastructure near Ayta ash Shab and Kfarkela on Tuesday.
Later on Tuesday, two people were killed and one person was injured in Israeli strikes targeting sites near Bodai, not far from Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley, according to Lebanese reports. The IDF said it hit another military compound used by Hezbollah’s aerial units in the strike. This compound also contained an airstrip.
Winery heavily damaged
Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli media reported that a winery was heavily damaged in Avivim in Israel's North as a result of an anti-tank missile. No casualties were reported.
Israel's National Fire and Rescue Authority said two teams were operating at the scene.
Hezbollah said it targeted two buildings in Avivim in response to Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah claimed that the buildings it targeted in Avivim were being used by the IDF.
Additionally, on Tuesday afternoon, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad announced that one of its members was killed amid the fighting along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
'It takes 10 minutes to reach a shelter'
The head of the Maron HaGalil Regional Council, Amit Sofer, expressed outrage at the attack on Avivim on Tuesday, saying "Once again a morning of rockets from Lebanon to Israel, once again residents here without protection and once again a great miracle that such an event ended without injuries or, God forbid, deaths.”
“We are demanding again that the State of Israel protect the north. There are residents here without a shelter whose walking time to the public shelter exceeds 10 minutes, while the missiles land here without warning or with a warning of a few seconds. There are solutions! We need to budget and implement immediately," said Sofer.