Israeli air attacks have killed at least 12 people and wounded others in eastern Lebanon, state media reported, as a fragile ceasefire comes under growing strain. The strikes hit the village of Mashghara in the Bekaa Valley late on Monday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.

The Israeli military said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah infrastructure sites and “terrorists” in the Bekaa Valley and across southern Lebanon. The attacks came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized more intensive strikes against Hezbollah, further pressuring the US-brokered ceasefire that took effect last month.

Reporting from Mashghara, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said there were at least 10 attacks in half an hour on an area with residential buildings. “There’s no final death toll because people remain missing. Excavators are still digging through the rubble,” she reported, adding that the attack was seen as part of a pressure campaign by Israel against Hezbollah.

Elsewhere, the southern Lebanese towns of Arnoun, Yohmor al-Shaqif, Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and Mayfadoun were under heavy artillery bombardment. Mayfadoun was subjected to a series of Israeli air attacks since dawn, while Shahour and Srifa in the Tyre district were shelled. The Israeli military also issued forced displacement orders for residents in the southern city of Nabatieh.

Lebanon was drawn into the US and Israel’s war on Iran on March 2 after Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel, saying they were retaliation for Israel’s killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader and violations of the November 2024 ceasefire.

More than 3,100 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the war, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health, and over 9,600 wounded. At least one million people have been displaced.

Source: www.aljazeera.com