Israeli warplanes renewed strikes on the surroundings of the Qaroun Dam in the Western Bekaa of eastern Lebanon for the second time, cutting off the road between the towns of Qaroun and Mashghara, according to the Litani River National Authority.

The authority stressed that any direct or indirect targeting of the dam or its facilities could result in catastrophic risks to residents, infrastructure, and vital installations located downstream, given the dam’s status as a strategic civilian facility tied to Lebanon’s water security, energy supply, and irrigation network.

The authority noted that it had attached a scenario prepared by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Litani River Basin Management Support Program, outlining potential collapse scenarios for the Qaroun Dam and identifying areas vulnerable to flooding in the event of any structural failure or direct targeting of the dam.

The authority also called on the President, the Prime Minister, and the relevant ministers to undertake the necessary contacts and efforts at the international and diplomatic levels to spare the Qaroun Dam and the authority’s facilities from any attacks, stressing that they are civilian and vital installations protected from targeting under international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.

The Israeli army issued an urgent warning to residents of the towns of Mashghara and Sohmor in the Western Bekaa of eastern Lebanon, urging them to evacuate their homes immediately and move northward toward the Bekaa region.

The Qaroun Dam is considered one of Lebanon's most prominent and important water installations on the strategic, economic, and environmental levels, having served for nearly 58 years as a key pillar in managing water resources and hydropower in the country, in addition to its vital role in supporting agriculture and irrigation.

Located in the Western Bekaa along the course of the Litani River, the Qaroun Dam is the largest in Lebanon, with a storage capacity of 220 million cubic meters of water. It features an embankment design with a concrete facing, standing 62 meters high and extending 1,100 meters in length along its crest.

The dam’s importance is underscored by its contribution to hydropower generation, supplying four power plants with a total capacity of up to 195 megawatts through a network of tunnels and pipelines stretching nearly 31 kilometers. It also plays a central role in supporting the agricultural sector through irrigation projects covering thousands of hectares in the Bekaa and the South, in addition to its connection to the “800 Canal” project, which aims to irrigate around 13,000 hectares and provide drinking water to more than 100 towns and villages.