DUBAI, August 21. /TASS/. At least one person was killed and 20 others were injured as a result of Israeli army strikes on the Beqaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese TV channel Al Mayadeen reported citing the country's Health Ministry.

According to the TV channel, at least eight children under the age of 10 and a pregnant woman are among the injured. One of the wounded people was taken to hospital "in critical condition".

Earlier, it was reported that the Israel Defense Forces attacked a number of settlements located in southern Lebanon. The National News Agency (NNA) indicated that the strikes were carried out on the villages of Ayta al-Shaab, Ad-Dahira, An-Naqoura and Hula. In Ad-Dahir, four people were killed in the shelling, and two more were injured.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian movement Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking hundreds of hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes have also been reported on the West Bank.