White smoke rises after Israeli strikes on the Bekaa, Feb. 26, 2026. (Credit: Sarah Abdallah)
The Israeli air force carried out three successive waves of airstrikes on the Bekaa Thursday afternoon, claiming to have targeted eight Hezbollah military bases where numerous weapons, “including firearms and rockets,” were stored.
In total, 13 strikes were recorded: Four in Shmustar, five in Boudai, one in Nabi Sheet, two in Harbta and one in the vicinity of Hermel, according to our correspondent in the region.
These attacks have killed at least two people, according to local sources: a 16-year-old Syrian, Hussein Mohsen al-Khalaf, killed near Baalbeck, and a woman, Fatima Siblawi, initially injured but later killed, as well as 28 others injured. The Health Ministry reported one death, the Syrian teenager, and one injury.
Shortly after the strikes, the Israeli army announced it had hit “eight training camps of Hezbollah’s al-Radwan force in the Baalbeck region.”
In a statement posted on X, the Arabic-language spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, said “large quantities of military equipment, including weapons and missiles belonging to Hezbollah, were stored there.”
He added that these complexes were used by members of the al-Radwan unit “to train and prepare for confrontation in emergency situations, as well as to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against the Israeli army and Israeli civilians,” stating that “live-fire exercises and the use of various types of weaponry were conducted there.”
“The activities of terrorists in these complexes, as well as Hezbollah’s attempts to rearm, constitute a violation of the cease-fire provisions between Israel and Lebanon and pose a threat to the state of Israel,” the statement also said.
The raids notably struck the outskirts (arid mountain areas) of Shmustar, Harbta and Boudai, before a second series of attacks targeted the outskirts of Boudai with missiles intended to destroy fortifications and tunnels.
New strikes then targeted the outskirts of Tamnin and Boudai, as well as the outskirts of Nabi Sheet, before spreading to the outskirts of Hermel. Several businesses were also damaged in the Baalbeck Souk, at Tallet al-Ajami.
These strikes come amid tensions between Iran and the United States, allies of Israel, who have deployed significant military forces in the Middle East and threatened to attack Iran in case bilateral negotiations fail.
Despite the truce theoretically in effect since Nov. 27, 2024, the Israeli army continues to strike southern Lebanon and the Bekaa, claiming to target movements and attempts by Hezbollah, the party, to rebuild its military capabilities.
Hezbollah has agreed to disarm south of the Litani River but refuses to surrender its arsenal in the rest of the country, as is normally provided in the truce agreement and United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 (2006).
The Israeli army also continues to occupy positions in Lebanese territory and regularly conducts incursions north of the Blue Line, which separates the two countries.
