Lebanese security officials say Israel has targeted eastern Lebanon for the first time since the war on Gaza started. Confirming the strikes, Israel’s army said its jets targeted sites used by Hezbollah for its aerial defense system, adding that they came “in response to the launch of a surface-to-air missile” that downed an Israeli drone earlier on Monday in southern Lebanon. The strike on Baalbek, because of its location deep inside Lebanon, is the most significant since the strike in early January on Beirut that killed top Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri. Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shia group, with deep ties with Hamas, says it will stop its attacks on Israel after a ceasefire is reached in Gaza.