At least 38 people killed in dozens of Israeli strikes in eastern Lebanon | Israel attacks news from Lebanon

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem doesn’t believe “political action” will end the war with Israel.

At least 38 people were killed in multiple attacks around Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley as Israel stepped up its attacks on eastern Lebanon, according to the regional governor.

Bachir Khodr, governor of Baalbek-Hermel governorate, said on Wednesday that 38 people had been killed and 54 others wounded in about 40 Israeli attacks on the province.

Meanwhile, further Israeli attacks hit Beirut’s southern suburbs at dusk. This came after the Israeli army issued forced evacuation warnings for three areas in southern Lebanon.

An Israeli military spokesman said [military] will act in the near future.”

An hour after the warnings, there were at least four Israeli attacks in the area. There was no immediate report of possible victims or targets.

Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah have been trading blows for a year. Fighting intensified in late September after a deadly attack on Pager in Lebanon, and Israel began a limited ground operation in Lebanese border villages.

“Trained resistance fighters”

Wednesday’s attacks on Lebanon came after Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem said he did not believe “political action” would end the war.

“If the enemy decides to stop the aggression, there is a path for negotiations that we have clearly defined – indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and the speaker.” [of parliament Nabih] Berri,” Qassem said in a recorded speech marking the 40-day death of his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah in a strike.

“We have tens of thousands of trained resistance fighters,” the Hezbollah chief added.

Meanwhile, acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Wednesday that Israel’s attacks on Lebanon were becoming “crimes against humanity.”

Mikati told the Lebanese cabinet that Israel was hindering international efforts to end the fighting and that he held the international community responsible for Israel’s “relentless war” against its people.

House Speaker Berri met with ambassadors from the United States and Saudi Arabia to Lebanon on Wednesday to discuss political developments, his office said, without providing further details.

U.S. efforts to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which included a proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, lost momentum last week ahead of the U.S. election in which former President Donald Trump was re-elected .

According to the Israeli army, 120 rockets have been fired from Lebanon into Israel since Wednesday morning.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah said it attacked a military base near Israel’s main airport near Tel Aviv. The Israel Airport Authority said the attack did not disrupt operations.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said more than 3,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since fighting began last year, most of them in the last six weeks.