The Israeli military said Thursday that it had struck dozens of sites in Lebanon, part of its widening offensive against Hezbollah, a bombardment that Lebanese officials said had killed dozens of people.

Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah initially focused on southern Lebanon, where it said it sought to cripple the militant group’s ability to fire rockets across the border. But the military operations have expanded in recent weeks to include cities and towns across the country, including some far from that border.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah had launched more than 40 “projectiles” across the border Thursday. It said one Israeli soldier was killed in a battle in northern Lebanon, where Israel has ramped up military operations over the past week.

Israeli strikes in and around the ancient city of Baalbek, in northeastern Lebanon, and in other parts of the country killed 52 people Wednesday, the Lebanese health ministry said. It was not clear how many were affiliated with Hezbollah.

Israel’s military said it had struck 20 sites in the area of Baalbek. It did not mention Sidon, a city on the southern coast where Lebanon’s health ministry said a strike Thursday had killed at least three people. The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, also said that five of its peacekeepers were “lightly injured” by a drone strike near Sidon on Thursday.

The Lebanese army, which is not affiliated with Hezbollah, said Thursday that three of its soldiers were injured in an Israeli strike on a car passing through a checkpoint in Sidon that also injured United Nations peacekeepers.

Baalbek, famed for its Roman ruins, was home to around 80,000 people before Israel stepped up its aerial assault in late September and launched a ground invasion aimed at crippling Hezbollah.

The governor of Baalbek, Bachir Khodr, said Wednesday that the Israeli attacks had come closer to the town’s ancient ruins than previous strikes, with a missile falling in the parking lot and causing damage to the historic neighborhood. He noted that the ruins had not yet been inspected for damage. On Thursday, Khodr posted an image showing the damaged lot adjacent to the ruins.

The ruins were designated a protected World Heritage Site in 1984 by the United Nations. Last week, the U.N. agency that designates cultural landmarks said it was “monitoring the impact of the ongoing conflict on Lebanese cultural sites” and working with Lebanon’s antiquities authority on preservation efforts.

Although the city, near the Syrian border in the Bekaa Valley, was largely spared during the early weeks of the campaign, Israeli military warnings in late October prompted much of its population to flee. Since then, Israel’s military has repeatedly struck Baalbek.

The Israeli military also said it had struck Hezbollah “command centers and terrorist infrastructure sites” near Beirut overnight. Residents reported hearing at least four large airstrikes near the Lebanese capital, with smoke rising over the Dahiya, an area south of Beirut where Hezbollah holds sway.

One hit so close to Beirut’s international airport that stones fell on a runway, according to local news reports. Lebanon’s transport minister, Ali Hamieh, said Thursday that the airport was operating normally.

More than 3,100 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 2023, most in the weeks since Israel ramped up its campaign against Hezbollah. More than 1.2 million people — one-fifth of the country’s population — have fled their homes, according to the Lebanese government.

As the fighting in Lebanon has intensified, Israel’s military has been pressing a renewed offensive against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip. It said Thursday that it was expanding ground operations there to include Beit Lahia, an agricultural area on the Israeli border that has been targeted by repeated airstrikes.

Separately on Thursday, the Israeli military said it had conducted a strike on a former school that had been run by UNRWA, the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians. The Israeli military said the school was being used by Hamas.

Ground operations were also continuing in Jabalia, a large town that has been the focus of the northern offensive. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Thursday that an Israeli strike on homes adjacent to one of its locations in Jabalia killed four people and injured 13.

The United Nations has warned of a humanitarian crisis that threatens hundreds of thousands of people trapped by the fighting in the north.

The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency rescue organization, said Thursday that it had been unable to operate in the north for the past 16 days due to the fighting.

The International Rescue Committee said Wednesday that “intensifying” strikes on hospitals in northern Gaza had “made it almost impossible to deliver lifesaving care.”