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Israel Says It Bombed Hezbollah Arms Depots in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley
People and Lebanese army members stand near a burnt car after an Israeli strike on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon, according to two Palestinian sources, in Lebanon, Aug. 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hassan Hankir
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it bombed Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley overnight, its latest strike on arms depots in a major stronghold of the powerful Iranian-backed terrorist organization.
The air attack came hours after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that “attacking munitions warehouses in Lebanon is preparation for anything that might happen.”
Hezbollah said it had retaliated for the strike on the Bekaa region by firing Katyusha rockets at an Israeli military logistics site in the Golan Heights.
Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been locked in hostilities for the last 10 months in parallel with the Gaza war between Israel and Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which has spread to several other fronts and prompted fears of an all-out Middle East conflict.
Hezbollah has pummeled northern Israeli communities almost daily with barrages of drones, rockets, and missiles since the start of the Gaza war in October.
About 80,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate Israel’s north during that time due to the unrelenting attacks. Most of them have spent the past 10 months living in hotels in other areas of Israel.
While most of the exchanges of fire have played out along Lebanon’s volatile southern border with Israel, some Israeli strikes have occurred deeper into Lebanon, including the Bekaa Valley, which borders Syria.
There was no immediate confirmation from security sources in Lebanon that weapons depots were targeted on Tuesday. The sources said the strike was in a residential area near the eastern city of Baalbek in the Bekaa, an area populated mainly by Shi’ite Muslims from whom Hezbollah draws its support.
The airstrikes left at least two people dead and 19 injured, according to the security sources, but it was not immediately clear if those killed were civilians or fighters.
Another Israeli airstrike on Wednesday hit a car on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon, killing a member of the armed wing of the Palestinian faction Fatah, two Palestinian sources told Reuters.
Israel has regularly bombed Hezbollah fighters and rocket launch sites in south Lebanon. More than 600 people in Lebanon have been killed since the start of the clashes last October, including more than 400 Hezbollah combatants and 132 civilians, according to a Reuters toll.
Targeting arms depots has picked up more recently.
On Saturday, the Israeli military said it targeted a weapons depot used by Hezbollah terrorists in an airstrike. Lebanon’s state news agency said at least 10 Syrian nationals, including two children, were killed in this incident.
Another airstrike late on Monday hit a Hezbollah weapons depot in the Bekaa region.
In July, Israel bombed another depot storing ammunition belonging to Hezbollah in the town of Adloun in south Lebanon, three security sources told Reuters.
The post Israel Says It Bombed Hezbollah Arms Depots in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.