Lebanon reported that 15 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Wednesday, including two rare attacks in mountainous areas outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds in the south and east.

The health ministry stated that an Israeli strike on the village of Joun in the Chouf mountains, southeast of Beirut, resulted in four fatalities. Another strike in Maaysra, a Shiite-majority village in a largely Christian mountain region about 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Beirut, killed three people. Additionally, eight individuals lost their lives in strikes in southern Lebanon.

Earlier, a Lebanese security official told AFP that an Israeli strike targeted a house in Maaysra, speaking on the condition of anonymity. A resident confirmed that the strike destroyed a house and a cafe. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that “two rockets fell in Maaysra.”

The Israeli military announced it was conducting “extensive” airstrikes in southern Lebanon and the eastern Beqaa Valley following a Hezbollah ballistic missile attack that reached central Israel for the first time before being intercepted.

Since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, sparking the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Hezbollah and Israel have engaged in near-daily exchanges of cross-border fire. Recently, Israel’s focus has shifted significantly from Gaza to Lebanon.