Israel's Air and Ground Raids Kill At Least 41 in Lebanon's Nabi Chit, Bekaa Valley

Israeli air-and-ground raids on the eastern Bekaa/Baalbek town of Nabi Chit killed at least 41 people and wounded 40, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported.

“Aftermath of village in Lebanon after Hezbollah, Israeli troops clash At least 41 people have been killed and 40 wounded in Israeli air-and-ground raids on Lebanon’s town of Nabi Chit, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, according to the Ministry of Public Health”

Al Jazeera

The dead included soldiers and security personnel, according to Lebanon’s state news agency NNA.

Al Jazeera

The strikes followed an overnight operation by Israeli special forces that, according to Israel’s military, was a search for the remains of missing airman Ron Arad.

The Israeli statement said the forces 'found nothing and reported no injuries.'

The Lebanese account and the Israeli statement therefore present sharply different emphases on the operation’s outcome and human cost.

Local reporting and NNA described how an Israeli commando unit infiltrated under the cover of darkness toward a family cemetery in Nabi Chit, was spotted by local fighters and residents, and clashed with them.

Once the unit was exposed, warplanes and helicopters launched about 40 strikes.

Al Jazeera

Nabi Chit had earlier endured at least 13 air strikes with nine deaths already reported, underscoring an intense, multi-stage operation combining ground insertion and significant aerial bombardment.

Hezbollah and Lebanese security accounts described a direct engagement with landed Israeli troops.

“Aftermath of village in Lebanon after Hezbollah, Israeli troops clash At least 41 people have been killed and 40 wounded in Israeli air-and-ground raids on Lebanon’s town of Nabi Chit, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, according to the Ministry of Public Health”

Al Jazeera

Hezbollah said it observed four Israeli helicopters approaching from the Syrian direction, engaged the landed troops, and fired rockets at their evacuation zone as Israeli forces withdrew.

NNA reported clashes along the Lebanon–Syria border as Israel attempted a landing operation, and social media video showed heavy gunfire, signalling broader kinetic activity beyond the immediate Nabi Chit site.

Lebanese and Hezbollah accounts framed the action as among the deepest Israeli incursions into eastern Lebanon since November 2024 and noted the timing came after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel earlier in the week.

The Israeli military, by contrast, limited its public statement to the narrow objective of recovering remains and reported no broader commentary on the clashes.

Al Jazeera

The differing narratives and limited official Israeli detail leave aspects of the operation — including precise responsibility for specific strikes and the sequence of events — contested and unclear in the immediate reporting.