RAYAK, Lebanon (AP) — Israeli airstrikes on eastern Lebanon have killed eight members of the militant Hezbollah group, including several local officials, two officials with the group said Saturday.
The Lebanese Health Ministry put the death toll at 10, but did not distinguish between militants and civilians.
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Syrian Razan al-Jassem, who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike, lies in Rayak Hospital in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Mourners carry the coffins of three Hezbollah fighters killed in Friday's Israeli strikes during their funeral procession in the village of Nabi Sheet in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People inspect damaged cars near a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in the village of Temnine in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People collect the remains of their belongings from a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People collect the remains of their belongings from a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Syrian Menisa Taha, who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike, lies in Rayak Hospital in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People gather near a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
The Hezbollah officials told The Associated Press that the eight militants were killed in strikes near the village of Rayak in northeast Lebanon late Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media about such details.
An Associated Press team that visited the scene of the strike Saturday morning saw that the top floor of a three-story building was knocked out.
The Israeli military said Saturday that several members of Hezbollah’s missile unit, in three different command centers in the Baalbek area in Lebanon, were “eliminated.”
The Israeli army added that the Hezbollah members killed were identified “as operating to accelerate readiness and force build-up processes, while planning fire attacks toward Israel.”
One of the Hezbollah officials said that three of the dead were local commanders and identified them as Ali al-Moussawi, Mohammed al-Moussawi and Hussein Yaghi.
Yaghi was the son of prominent Hezbollah official and one of its founders, Mohammed Yaghi, who died in 2023. Mohammed Yaghi was also a close aide to late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September 2024.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Saturday that Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon killed 10 people and wounded 24, including three children.
Ali Abdullah, executive director of Rayak Hospital, told the AP that the strike occurred after sunset, adding that they have received 10 bodies and 21 wounded. He added that the dead included two non-Lebanese — a Syrian man and an Ethiopian woman. The wounded included five Syrians and three Ethiopians.
Ethiopians often come to Lebanon as migrant domestic workers.
A funeral was held Saturday afternoon in the eastern village of Nabi Chit for two Hezbollah members who were killed in the strikes.
After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza, Hezbollah began firing rockets from Lebanon into Israel in support of Hamas and the Palestinians.
Israel responded with airstrikes and shelling. The low-level conflict escalated into full-scale war in September 2024, later reined in but not fully stopped by a U.S.-brokered ceasefire two months later.
Since then, Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild and has carried out near-daily strikes in Lebanon that it says target Hezbollah militants and facilities. Hezbollah has claimed one strike against Israel since the ceasefire.
The death toll from Friday’s strikes was unusually high and comes at a moment of intensified tensions in the region as the United States has threatened to strike Iran — a backer of both Hezbollah and Hamas — if negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program fail to produce a deal.
Mroue reported from Beirut.
Syrian Razan al-Jassem, who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike, lies in Rayak Hospital in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Mourners carry the coffins of three Hezbollah fighters killed in Friday's Israeli strikes during their funeral procession in the village of Nabi Sheet in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People inspect damaged cars near a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in the village of Temnine in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People collect the remains of their belongings from a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People collect the remains of their belongings from a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Syrian Menisa Taha, who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike, lies in Rayak Hospital in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
People gather near a building destroyed in an Israeli strike in the village of Bednayel in eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — No surprise: Germany's Johannes Lochner is the leader midway through the four-man bobsled race at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
And he's well on his way to ending his career with double Olympic gold.
Lochner and his team — Thorsten Margis, Jorn Wenzel and Georg Fleischhauer — finished their first two runs of the four-heat event Saturday in 1 minute, 48.61 seconds. That was 0.43 seconds faster than the time posted by four-time Olympic champion and fellow German Francesco Friedrich in his first two runs.
“It was a really great one, the first (run). The second one we had problems, especially at the start and in the middle part of the track," Lochner said. "In the end, we are really happy with the result right now.”
Germany — which also swept the medals in two-man — holds all three medal spots at the midpoint: Adam Ammour, who had the fastest time in the second heat, is third, 0.59 seconds back.
The medal-deciding runs are Sunday — the final day of the Olympics.
For the U.S., Kris Horn — who couldn't compete in two-man at these Olympics because he didn't finish enough races in the World Cup season — finally got his Games underway and is ninth after two runs. Horn is sliding with Caleb Furnell, Hunter Powell and Carsten Vissering.
“We had such a long break," Horn said. "I was hoping I still know how to drive.”
Turns out, he does. He's exactly 1 second off the lead, but within 0.22 seconds of fifth and 0.41 seconds of the bronze medal spot.
The goal for Sunday?
“To push faster," Horn said. “We want start rank 1 and then pick off some people at the bottom.”
Frank Del Duca, an opening ceremony flagbearer for the U.S. who started 27th in the 27-sled field — meaning he got some seriously chewed-up ice to deal with in his opening run — is 12th for the Americans. Del Duca has Boone Niederhofer, Bryan Sosoo and Josh Williamson in his sled.
"The ice crew here in Italy is doing a phenomenal job. But the sled’s weight is close to 1,400 pounds and they’re experiencing four-plus Gs," Del Duca said. "We’re going 85 mph. And the runners are only as wide as your finger. So, they really dig into the ice, so much so that certain profiles of the corner can change on the entrance. If that’s where you’re supposed to steer and everyone’s steering in the same spot, you’d be surprised just how chopped the ice can get.
"But that being said, that’s the start draw we earned, and we’re going to keep fighting.”
Jamaica, always a fan favorite at the Olympics and the Milan Cortina Games are no exception, is 22nd going into Sunday. Only the top 20 sleds after three heats qualify for the final run on Sunday, meaning pilot Shane Pitter has to make up at least 0.11 seconds of time to get into the last heat.
There were three crashes in the second heat, after a relatively crash-free Olympics in all three sliding sports — skeleton, luge and bobsled.
The second heat of four-man was delayed for about 20 minutes after Austrian pilot Jakob Mandlbauer lost control of his sled and crashed around the midpoint of the track. Mandlbauer was taken off the track on a stretcher and brought by ambulance to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
There was no immediate word on the severity of his injuries. Austrian officials said he had movement in his extremities.
Also crashing: the French sled driven by Romain Heinrich, and the sled from Trinidad and Tobago piloted by Axel Brown. Because their sleds didn't cross the finish line, they won't be racing when the event resumes Sunday.
Lochner still has the sizable lead, but his perfect record in heats at Cortina is now gone. He had been 9-for-9 in competitive runs at the track since it opened last fall, finishing first in each of them — sweeping the two- and four-man events at the World Cup opener in November, then winning all four heats of the Olympic two-man race and the first heat of four-man.
But Ammour had the fastest time in the second heat, keeping somewhat within reach.
Lochner's margin of 0.39 seconds was the biggest after one run of an Olympic four-man competition since the 1952 Oslo Games. But Ammour's blazing second run means Lochner won't be the second pilot to sweep all eight heats in men's bobsled during the same Olympics.
Anderl Ostler — who pulled off that feat 74 years ago at those Oslo Olympics — will remain alone in that club. Wolfgang Hoppe nearly did it in at the 1984 Sarajevo Games, winning seven of eight heats and finishing 0.01 seconds back in the other.
Lochner can still be the seventh pilot to sweep both men's bobsled events in an Olympics, joining Ostler (1952), Italy's Eugenio Monti (1968), then-East Germany's Meinhard Nehmer (1976), Hoppe (1984), Germany's Andre Lange (2006), and Friedrich (2018 and 2022).
“Sled fast, start fast," Lochner said. "Then we’ll have something to celebrate, hopefully.”
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Germany's Francesco Friedrich, center right, arrives at the finish during a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Team members and rescue workers carry an injured athlete after Austria's team Jakob Mandlbauer, Daniel Bertschler, Sebastian Mitterer and Daiyehan Nichols-Bardi crashed during a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Austria's team Jakob Mandlbauer, Daniel Bertschler, Sebastian Mitterer and Daiyehan Nichols-Bardi crashes during a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
United States' Kristopher Horn, left, Caleb Furnell, Hunter Powell and Carsten Vissering slide down the track during a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
United States' Kristopher Horn, front, Caleb Furnell, Hunter Powell and Carsten Vissering start for a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Germany's Francesco Friedrich, front, Matthias Sommer, Alexander Schuller and Felix Straub start for a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Germany's Johannes Lochner, left, Thorsten Margis, Jorn Wenzel and Georg Fleischauer slide down the track during a four man bobsled run at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
