Hezbollah says eight members killed as Israel steps up strikes in Lebanon

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. — AFP pic

ALI AL-NAHRI (Lebanon), Feb 21 — An Israeli strike on Lebanon killed eight members of Hezbollah, an official from the group told AFP today, saying the attack hit a meeting the militants were holding far from Israel’s border.

The Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah in the area, hours after it had announced striking Hamas targets in southern Lebanon.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the attacks, which took place days after the government announced that the army will start implementing the second phase of its plan to disarm Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s health ministry said 10 people were killed in the east and two in the south, both areas where Hezbollah holds sway.

The strikes come as tensions are brewing between the United States and Iran, with US President Donald Trump threatening military action over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.

Iran backs several proxies in the region, including Hezbollah and Hamas.

The Hezbollah official, requesting anonymity, said all eight members of the group were attending a meeting in the eastern Bekaa region when a strike killed them.

A statement from the group yesterday said the raids killed a “commander”.

The Israeli military said it targeted “several terrorists of Hezbollah’s missile array in three different command centres in the Baalbek area”.

An AFP correspondent in eastern Lebanon saw a bulldozer clearing debris following the strike on Bednayel, and a heavily damaged building between Riyak and Ali al-Nahri, where the Hezbollah official said the members were meeting.

The raids were in residential areas, according to the correspondent.

They came hours after an Israeli strike on the country’s largest Palestinian refugee camp in the south killed two people, according to the health ministry, with Israel’s army saying it had targeted Hamas.

Hamas in a statement condemned the attack, which it said led to “civilian” casualties, saying the targeted building “belongs to the joint security force charged with maintaining security and stability in the camp”.

‘Act of aggression’ 

Israel has kept up regular strikes on Lebanon despite a November 2024 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, usually saying it is targeting the group but occasionally also Hamas militants.

Lebanon’s president called Friday’s attacks “a blatant act of aggression aimed at thwarting diplomatic efforts” by the United States and other nations to establish stability.

Washington is one of five members on a multinational committee overseeing the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, with the body scheduled to meet again next week.

Hezbollah lawmaker Rami Abu Hamdan said the group “will not accept the authorities acting as mere political analysts, dismissing these as Israeli strikes we have grown accustomed to before every meeting of the committee”.

He called on Beirut to “suspend the committee’s meetings until the enemy ceases its attacks”.

Lebanon’s government last year committed to disarming the group, with the army saying last month it had completed the first phase of the plan covering the area near the Israeli border.

Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming since the war, has called the Lebanese army’s progress on disarming the militant group insufficient. — AFP