At least 60 killed in strikes on east Lebanon

Israeli strikes in eastern Lebanon have killed at least 60 people and injured around 58 others, according to the country’s health ministry.

The strikes targeted a number of cities and towns, including in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, where at least 34 people died.

In the town of Sahl Allak in Baalbeck province, 16 people were killed, with the casualty toll still expected to rise as rescue operations continue, according to the National News Agency.

In Ramm, also in Baalbeck, an Israeli airstrike killed nine people, including a mother and her four children, and left one other person wounded, according to NNA.

Another strike on the outskirts of Gouraud Barracks Camp in the Baalbeck province, where some Palestinian refugees reside, claimed six lives and wounded 17 others.

In Hellaniyeh, two people were killed and eight wounded, while in Younine, also in Baalbeck, two more people were killed and six others were injured, NNA reported.

It comes as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed his Lebanese counterpart to London on Monday and offered condolences for the deaths of citizens killed in Israeli attacks.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that more than 2,700 people had been killed and nearly 12,600 wounded in a year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel. A quarter of those killed were women and children.

Starmer and Prime Minister Najib Mikati agreed an immediate cease-fire was needed to protect civilians and critical infrastructure, according to a readout of the meeting provided by Starmer’s office.

“On the wider regional conflict, the prime minister outlined the need for all parties to de-escalate and work towards a long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East,” a Starmer spokesperson said.

The meeting came after UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy told British lawmakers that his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, said the military effort in Lebanon would end shortly.