Hezbollah claimed responsibility on Monday for assaults on military personnel and installations in northern Israel, including a drone strike on a facility and an attack on soldiers who were supposedly “infiltrating” close to the border with Lebanon.
Since the Palestinian militant group’s onslaught on Israel on October 7 that started the Gaza conflict, the Iran-backed group and the Israeli army have engaged in frequent cross-border firing in support of Hamas, the group’s ally.
A month ago, an Israeli raid on the southern suburbs of Beirut killed one of Hezbollah’s top commanders, Fuad Shukr. Hours later, an attack in Tehran that was attributed to Israel killed Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas. This incident raised fears of a significant escalation.
Iran and Hezbollah have vowed to respond.
Hezbollah said Monday it launched a “simultaneous air attack” with “explosive-laden drones” on two Israeli military positions — a barracks near the border and a base near the coastal town of Acre, around 15 kilometres (10 miles) from the frontier.
It said it came “in response” to an Israeli “attack and assassination” in south Lebanon’s Tyre area.
A fighter from the group was killed in an Israeli strike in the area on Saturday.
The Israeli military had said its aircraft “eliminated” a Hezbollah operative in the Tyre area, describing him as a “commander” in the group’s elite Radwan force.
Overnight, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted a group of Israeli soldiers “infiltrating” near the border and confronted them “with rocket weapons and artillery, forcing them to return”.
Also Monday morning, Hezbollah claimed a rocket and artillery attack on another Israeli barracks in stated retaliation for “Israeli enemy attacks”.
The cross-border violence has killed some 582 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but including at least 128 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, according to army figures.
