BEIRUT, October 3. /TASS/. At least three people were killed and up to ten more sustained wounds as a result of the Israeli Air Force strikes on the city of Baalbek in the east of Lebanon over the past day, Al Jazeera television channel reported on Thursday.

According to Al Jazeera, at least ten civilians sought medical assistance after Israel’s air raids that targeted Ras al-Ain and Temnine et Tahta residential localities near Baalbek.

On September 23, Israel launched an offensive operation, dubbed Northern Arrows, aimed at undermining the military infrastructure of the Hezbollah movement, carrying out massive air strikes across Lebanon, with dozens of settlements in the south and east of the country targeted.

On September 27, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in one of the Israeli strikes on Beirut with his death officially confirmed by the Shiite party.

Overnight on October 1, the IDF announced a limited ground operation in Lebanon’s borderline areas.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly.

Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.

On the evening of October 1, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, the elite unit of Iran’s armed forces) launched a massive ballistic and hypersonic missile attack against Israel. An air-raid warning was declared throughout the country, and the population was ordered to take shelter.

The IRGC said that 90% of the missiles successfully hit their designated targets. Israel, in turn, said that Iran had fired some 180 missiles into the country, most of which were intercepted.

Israeli General Staff vowed to "choose the right moment" to surprise Iran with a counter-attack, while Khamenei, speaking Hebrew, warned that the attacks on Israel will only be expanded.