At least 15 killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, according to health ministry

 

Lebanese army soldiers deploy around a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Barja, Lebanon, on October 12. 

Mohammad Zaatari/AP

At least 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes on three Lebanese towns on Saturday, according to a CNN tally of numbers from Lebanon’s health ministry.

In northern Lebanon, a strike in Maaysra killed at least nine people and another in Deir Billa killed two, according to the ministry. Meanwhile in Barja, 20 miles south of Beirut, four people were killed.

The Israeli military told CNN it wasn’t aware of any strikes Saturday in those locations. CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) if there were strikes in the vicinity of those towns.

The Lebanese state news agency NNA reported that Israeli strikes had also hit Nabatieh in southern Lebanon and the northern and central parts of the Bekaa region. The IDF has not yet responded to a CNN request for comment on the reported strikes in these areas.
It has previously struck Nabatieh and Bekaa, saying it was eliminating Hezbollah targets.

Rescuers search for survivors at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on October 12. 

Abbas Fakih/AFP/Getty Images

According to state media, Tel Chiha Hospital in the Bekaa governorate sustained some damage and a market was hit in Nabatieh. Lebanon’s health ministry said at least eight people were injured in Nabatieh.

The Lebanese Red Cross said it was conducting search and rescue operations in Nabatieh.

“Severe fires are preventing us from reaching the targeted area,” the group said in a post on X.

Lebanese state media also reported that strikes hit Rayaq in central Bekaa, which is home to a Lebanese military base and military airport. According to NNA, homes, commercial establishments, a university and hospitals were damaged in Bekaa.