A window was shattered in the Shmestar state school during Israeli strikes that occurred while students were taking the baccalaureate exam, on July 15, 2025. (Photo provided by Sarah Abdallah)
Israeli airstrikes targeting alleged Hezbollah targets in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday killed 12 people, including five Hezbollah members, according to a security source cited by Reuters. The bombings, which come as part of an unprecedented escalation since the cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel came into effect on Nov. 27, are "the deadliest since 2024," according to the governor of Baalbeck-Hermel, Bashir Khodr, also cited by Reuters.
The Israeli army said Tuesday it carried out strikes on Hezbollah targets in the Bekaa Valley, marking an escalation since the cease-fire took effect on Nov. 27. According to the Health Ministry, six people were injured in the strikes.
Israeli fighter jets conducted around 16 airstrikes on the hills of Shmustar, Bodai, Taraya, Qsarnaba and on the hills between Brital and Khraibeh (Baalbeck), according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the region. Strikes also hit an area near the Shmestar state school, shattering windows as students were sitting for Lebanon’s baccalaureate exams. Other strikes targeted abandoned sites. No injuries have been reported so far, but the strikes caused a fire in Brital and damaged the Nabi Ismail religious site in the same area.
Hezbollah 'terrorist targets' hit
The strikes were claimed by the Israeli military, which said it launched attacks targeting “numerous strikes toward Hezbollah terror targets in the area of Bekaa,” according to a military statement. “The military compounds that were struck were used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization for training and exercising terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist attacks ... terrorists carried out drills for gunfire combat and the use of various weapons.”
The party also allegedly conducted “rehabilitation activities,” including firearms training and use of various types of weapons.
“The storage of weapons and the activities of the Hezbollah terrorist organization at these sites constitute a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and constitute a future threat to the State of Israel,” the Israeli statement said. Israel "continues to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel and will prevent the reestablishment of the Hezbollah terrorist organization."
An Israeli drone, in the early afternoon, dropped a bomb on an excavator in the Hermel area, killing at least three people, two of whom were Lebanese, and injuring Syrians who were in the area at the time of the bombing.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that the ongoing Israeli strikes in Lebanon were a clear message to Hezbollah, which he said was planning to rebuild its capabilities with the aim of launching raids against Israel through its elite Radwan Force.
The Israeli army still occupies five positions in southern Lebanon and conducts near-daily strikes in this region as well as in the Bekaa.
The issue of Hezbollah’s disarmament remains at the heart of Lebanese and international political debates, especially after the more than year-long war between Hezbollah and Israel. U.S. envoy Tom Barrack visited Beirut last week to promote Washington’s “roadmap” for the disarmament of the party. U.S. sources involved in the talks told L'Orient Today that the Trump administration expressed disappointment with Lebanon’s response, while acknowledging this was just a starting point for negotiations — talks which, according to Washington, cannot be open-ended.
The U.S. embassy has sent Lebanese authorities “ideas” concerning Lebanon's response to Barrack’s roadmap, and “the exchange of ideas is ongoing,” said a source familiar with the talks. According to L'Orient Today's information, the Americans want the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons settled by year’s end.
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