Israel launched a strike in Lebanon on Saturday in rocket retaliation with Israeli targets, killing six people in the heaviest fire exchange since That ceasefire With a group of extremists, Hezbollah began almost four months ago.
The exchange raised concerns about whether or not Certain fire is maintaineddays after Israel resumed war with Hamas, another Iran-backed extremist group in Gaza. In a statement, Hezbollah denied being responsible for the attack, saying it was committed to a ceasefire.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it had instructed the Army to respond vigorously to dozens of Lebanon targets, based in Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israeli forces said six rockets were fired towards Methura, a town along the border with Lebanon. The three went to Israel and were intercepted.
The Army said it could not confirm the identity of the organization that fired Rocket. It said it hit Hezbollah’s command center and dozens of rocket launchers.
Israeli strikes in a village in southern Lebanon have killed five people, including children, and injured 10 people, including two, Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported.
STR/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
Another Israeli strike hit the garage of a coastal city tyre on Saturday night, the NNA reported, killing one person and seven injured. According to the NNA, it was the first attack since the ceasefire came into effect on November 27th.
Hezbollah officials told The Associated Press on Saturday that he would speak on condition of anonymity as he was not responsible for the initial attack, called “primitive” and not allowed to speak to the media.
In a statement, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam asked the Lebanese army to take all necessary measures in the south, but said the country did not want to return to war.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles at Israel the following day. Hamas October 7, 2023an attack from Gaza sparked the war there. The Israel-Hezbollah conflict boiled into all-out war in September as Israel carried out a massive wave of airstrikes and killed most of the senior leaders of extremist groups. The battle killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon and drove away about 60,000 Israelis.
Under the ceasefire that arrived in November, Israeli forces were to withdraw from all Lebanese territory by late January. The deadline was then extended until February 18th by an agreement between Lebanon and Israel.
But since then, Israel has remained in five locations in Lebanon across from its northern Israeli community, and has said it has launched dozens of airstrikes in southern and eastern Lebanon to attack Hezbollah. Lebanon appealed to the UN to pressure Israel to completely withdraw.
Lebanon’s UN interim force known as Unifil said it was wary of the possibility of escalation of violence, urging all parties to promote it, saying further escalation could have serious consequences for the region.
The strike in Lebanon comes the day after Israel called for its operation in Gaza “intensity” until Hamas has freed the 59 hostages held by Hamas.
The Hamas-led militants attacks in 2023 killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Israeli retaliatory attacks have killed more than 49,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, managed by Hamas. He hasn’t said how many extremists are, but he says that more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it killed around 20,000 extremists without providing evidence.
The Middle East crisis
more
more
