Residents of the Baalbek area, in eastern Lebanon, fear that the consecutive Israeli strikes in recent hours may be a precursor to ongoing assaults, rendering the region unsafe. They are closely monitoring developments, while one resident questions whether Tel Aviv seeks to empty Baalbek and drive its inhabitants to flee, according to Asharq Al-Awsat.
Israeli aircraft carried out repeated strikes late Monday and on Tuesday morning and afternoon, targeting villages around the city of Baalbek, which is a human reservoir for Hezbollah. One of the strikes on Tuesday hit the birthplace of former Secretary-General Abbas al-Mousawi, who was assassinated by Israel in 1992 and buried in Nabi Sheet village.
The strikes targeted the towns of Sarin, Teriya, and Nabi Sheet, and the Israeli army struck a residential building belonging to the son of Mahmoud Alam, the director of Dar Al Amal University Hospital, resulting in the death of football player Mustafa Gharib. More than 20 injuries were reported, including 4 Syrian refugees who were hurt by flying glass and debris from the targeted building near Dar Al Amal Hospital.
On Tuesday afternoon, the people of Baalbek observed the skies of the town: “Drones have not left our skies since yesterday,” says Hassan D. noting that the drones intensified their flights since Monday before the bombardment began in the evening.
Hassan questions the aims of the expanded Israeli airstrikes on the Baalbek area, asking: “Is the bombing of Baalbek intended to intimidate civilians?” This belief is based on the locations targeted, most of which are near the international road, and the strikes mostly hit residential buildings that were almost empty of their inhabitants.
Hassan stated that the targeted buildings are civilian installations, with no presence of Hezbollah in those empty structures, indicating that the party is not present here; everyone knows, and Israel knows it is in the outskirts, not here, which raises questions about the Israeli bombing's objectives and its messages to civilians.
The focus of the Israeli strikes appeared to be on civilian facilities, as noted during an Asharq Al-Awsat tour. Residents claim that Hezbollah vacated all its centers since the war began, and its fighters or guards no longer appear due to instructions and orders from Hezbollah to abandon all buildings and centers in the region.
The targeting of civilians is a recurring theme among the residents. Hikmat Sharif, who has been following the airstrikes since last month, which initially targeted Addous west of Baalbek, believes that Israel is intensifying its operations by targeting civilians and residential areas to push for a political solution, asserting that the nature of the targets negates the idea of impactful strikes or military objectives. He says: "Everyone here knows that Hezbollah has emptied its centers of their contents and personnel."
