At least 52 people were killed, and 72 others injured on Friday following Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon’s northern Bekaa region, according to figures released by the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

The airstrikes targeted multiple towns within the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate, marking one of the deadliest escalations in the area since the onset of the ongoing Israeli aggression.

The bombardment swept across numerous communities, transforming familiar streets and neighborhoods into scenes of sorrow and loss. In Amhaz, 12 people died, and seven more were injured, while the town of Harabta mourned six lives taken, with four more wounded. In Younin, nine lost their lives, and one resident was injured; in Badnayel, eight were killed, and seven were hurt. Meanwhile, the town of Nahleh, where four people perished and seven were wounded, shared in the collective grief, as did Baalbek’s al-Shrawneh neighborhood, where two souls were claimed. The pain stretched on to Taraiyya, with one killed and seven injured; to al-Aalaq, where four died, and two more were injured; and to Iyyat, which lost four of its own. In Laboueh, one resident was wounded, and in al-Khoder, six more were injured.

Lebanese authorities have voiced concerns over the increasing civilian toll in the northern Bekaa region, as well as in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and the southern suburbs of Beirut, areas that have reportedly become primary targets in recent days.

This recent wave of airstrikes marks an intensification of hostilities in Baalbek-Hermel, an area previously seen as somewhat removed from the central conflict. Civilian infrastructure has also sustained damage, raising humanitarian concerns over access to medical care, utilities, and essential services as the conflict intensifies.

Lebanese officials and humanitarian organizations have condemned the airstrikes, calling for international intervention to prevent further civilian casualties and to ensure the protection of non-combatants in affected regions. (ILKHA)