At least two Israeli strikes today, for the first time since the start of the Gaza war, targeted the town of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon. security sources said.

One of the strikes targeted a Hezbollah warehouse and the other a building housing civilian infrastructure of the Lebanese Shiite movement on the outskirts of the city of Baalbek.

Israel’s military limited itself to announcing that it was carrying out “strikes against Hezbollah terrorist targets deep inside Lebanese territory,” without elaborating.

At the moment Hezbollah itself has not announced anything related to the incident.

Baalbek province, located in the eastern Bekaa Valley bordering Syria, is a stronghold of Hezbollah, which has a significant military presence there.

These strikes are the first to target Hezbollah positions outside southern Lebanon, theater of daily clashes between the Shiite movement and the Israeli army since the start of the war in Gaza.

Since October 7, Hezbollah has been targeting Israeli military positions daily in a show of support for the Palestinian movement Hamas, while Israel has been launching strikes against Lebanon.

Earlier today the Shiite movement announced that it shot down an Israeli Hermes 450 drone in southern Lebanon, about twenty kilometers from the border with Israel.

At least 278 people — including 193 fighters from Hezbollah and other groups, as well as 44 civilians — have been killed since the war in Gaza began, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, ten soldiers and six civilians have been killed, according to the army.