IDF Strikes Kill 41 in Nabi Chit, Bekaa Valley — Commando Unit Clashes with Hezbollah

Lebanese health ministry confirmed that 41 citizens were killed and 40 wounded in Israeli strikes on the town of Nabi Chit and surrounding towns in the Baalbek district of Lebanon's eastern Bekaa valley on Day 8. A series of raids launched by the Israeli enemy on the town of Nabi Chit and surrounding towns resulted in 41 citizens killed and 40 wounded, the ministry stated. Separately, Lebanese media reported that at least 26 people were killed, including three Lebanese soldiers, during an overnight clash with Israeli forces in the Bekaa. Hezbollah confirmed it was involved in the fighting at Nabi Chit, stating that a local confrontation developed when residents and armed fighters engaged an IDF commando unit that had been deployed to the area by helicopter. The IDF separately confirmed its special forces had carried out a raid in Lebanon in an attempt to locate the remains of Lieutenant Colonel Ron Arad, a navigator whose plane went down in southern Lebanon in 1986. The IDF stated the operation was unsuccessful and that there were no Israeli casualties. The Bekaa Valley operation represents the deepest IDF penetration into Lebanese territory of the war and signals a major geographic expansion of the Lebanon front.