Hezbollah has said it had no option but to continue what it calls “resistance” after Israeli air strikes in Lebanon killed eight of its fighters, escalating tensions despite a fragile ceasefire.
The Israeli military said Friday it targeted Hezbollah command centres in eastern Lebanon and sites linked to the Palestinian group Hamas in the south. Lebanon’s health ministry reported 12 people killed — 10 in the east and two in the south — while Hezbollah confirmed eight of the dead were its members.
Mahmud Qamati, a Hezbollah official, described the strike in the Bekaa Valley as “a new massacre and a new aggression” in remarks broadcast on the group’s Al-Manar television channel.
“What option do we have left to defend ourselves and our country?” he said. “We no longer have any option other than resistance.”
President Joseph Aoun condemned the attacks, calling them a “blatant act of aggression” that risk undermining diplomatic efforts led by the United States and others to preserve stability. The strikes came days after Lebanon’s government said the army would begin implementing the second phase of a plan to disarm Hezbollah in southern Lebanon — a move Israel has argued has progressed too slowly.
An AFP correspondent reported heavy damage to buildings in Bednayel and between Riyak and Ali al-Nahri, describing debris being cleared from residential areas.
The raids occurred amid rising regional tensions, including renewed friction between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear programme. Iran backs Hezbollah and Hamas, and Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem warned last month that any attack on Iran would also be considered an attack on the group.
Israel has continued strikes in Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire intended to end more than a year of cross-border hostilities.
