People in Bekaa Valley live in fear as Israel bombs residential areas without warning
Israel has increased its bombardment of the Bekaa Valley. It’s hit the north, it’s hit central Bekaa and the south of Bekaa. Many towns and villages have been hit.
What we witnessed on Saturday was Israeli aircraft – two Israeli aircraft overhead in the skies – but also, we heard Israeli aircraft breaking the sound barrier and multiple reports of strikes taking place across Bekaa.
We have also witnessed people’s homes being hit in towns and villages across this region. In the middle of residential areas, Israel is striking people’s homes.
Israel says it is going after Hezbollah infrastructure and what it calls Hezbollah weapons depots. But it is very difficult to verify what Israel is aiming at.
Many people have no warning whatsoever. None of these so-called Israeli evacuation orders, which are essentially threats and warnings that if people don’t leave their homes and towns and villages, they will be bombed.
Many people have been displaced and those who remain live in fear because they hear the aircraft overhead. They hear the drones. And they are fearful because they don’t know what will be hit and when.
Lebanese army soldiers secure a site that was hit by Israeli jets in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley in March 2024
UN official appeals for Israel to not attack Lebanon’s ports, international airport
Carl Skau, the deputy executive director of the UN World Food Programme, said he is concerned that Lebanon’s ports and international airport might be taken out of service amid Israel’s ongoing attacks, which would restrict the amount of food entering the country.
“What I have seen and heard today is devastating, but the sense is that this can get much worse still, and that needs to be avoided,” he told The Associated Press during a visit to Beirut. “We have huge concerns and there are many, but one of them is indeed that we need the ports and we need the supply routes to continue to be able to operate.”
Israeli authorities have given “commitments” that ports and airports would not be taken out of commission in Lebanon, Skau said, but he said Lebanon “is a very changing environment” and he doesn’t “take anything for granted”.
Earlier this week, Lebanon’s transport minister said the country had received “assurances” but not guarantees that Israel would not target its only international airport, located in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israel using Lebanon war as ‘cover’ to clear north Gaza of Palestinians: Analyst
Gideon Levy, a columnist with Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, told Al Jazeera the goal of the Israeli government appears to be to clear the north of Gaza of all Palestinians, and nothing can stop them with US support.
“Israel still ignores totally any kind of requests from the United States because, in the last year, Israel learned that those requests… are totally hollow because they are never followed by any kind of measures against Israel in terms of supply of arms or ammunition,” Levy told Al Jazeera.
“Therefore, Israel is free to do whatever it wants. And it can easily ignore condemnations from European countries,” Levy said.
“I really think that Israel wants to ‘clear’, so-called, the northern part of Gaza for good. And under the cover of the war in Lebanon and the danger from Iran, when the whole world is looking upon Lebanon and the strike on Iran – the possible strike by Israel – Israel is taking advantage of it and repeats doing those things in Gaza without having any military goals there,” he said.
“Israel by itself declared that, basically, Hamas as a military force is totally thrashed. So why does it continue? It continues because Israel would like to see the northern part of Gaza empty of all its Palestinian inhabitants and that’s the goal and nobody stops Israel,” he added.
