Hezbollah on Friday fired 19 rockets from southern Lebanon toward Israeli military outposts on the border between the two countries. Most were intercepted by the Iron Dome system and there were no casualties, according to the Israeli Defense Forces.
This is the first time Hezbollah has fired rockets on Israel and publicly taken responsibility since the 2006 war. It’s a significant escalation in tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border in recent weeks.
On Thursday, several rockets were fired from Lebanon towards Israel and landed in open areas near the city of Kiryat Shmona. There were no casualties. The Israeli military said Palestinian factions were likely responsible.
Several hours later, the Israeli military retaliated by launching several airstrikes in the areas in southern Lebanon where the rockets were launched from. These were the first Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon since the 2006 war.
Hezbollah fired the rockets from a launcher on a pickup truck. Videos on social media showed the truck being stopped by Druze residents of the village of Hasbaya in southern Lebanon after the shooting.
Of the 19 rockets fired, 10 were intercepted, three landed in Lebanese territory, and six landed in open areas in Israel, according to the IDF.
Hezbollah issued a statement stressing that it fired the rockets on Friday as a retaliation to the Israeli airstrikes the previous day.
The Hezbollah statement also hinted this was a retaliation for the killing of two of the organization’s operatives by Israel in recent months — one in Syria and the other while he tried to cross the border into Israel during the last war in Gaza.
Read more at Axios.
{Matzav.com}
