BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel on Saturday, warning that the attack was in reprisal to the targeted execution of a key Hamas leader in Lebanon’s capital earlier this week, allegedly by Israel.
The missile attack came a day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah declared that his organization must retaliate for the assassination of Saleh Arouri, the deputy political head of the militia’s allies Hamas, in a Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut.
He stated that if Hezbollah did not respond, Lebanon as a whole would be exposed to Israeli attack. He looked to be presenting his case for a reaction to the Lebanese population, even at the danger of intensifying combat between Hezbollah and Israel as Israel’s battle with Hamas continues.
Hezbollah claimed to have launched 62 rockets at an Israeli air surveillance facility on Mount Meron, with direct strikes. According to the report, rockets also struck two army stations along the border. The Israeli military stated that approximately 40 rockets were fired toward Meron and that a base was targeted, but no mention was made of the base being hit. It claimed to have hit the Hezbollah cell responsible for the rocket attacks.
Hezbollah Fires Rockets At Israel In ‘Initial Response’ To Killing Of Top Leader From Allied Hamas
According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon hit the fringes of Kouthariyeh al-Siyad hamlet, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border, causing injuries.
Since the border conflict began over three months ago, such strikes farther inside Lebanon have been rare. According to the NNA, Israeli forces shelled border regions, including the village of Khiam. The Israeli army did not respond immediately.
Separately, the armed wing of Lebanon’s Islamic Group, the country’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and a close supporter of Hamas, said it launched two rockets at the Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday night. Two members of the group were killed in the strike that killed Arouri.
The cross-border escalation occurred as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken began his fourth trip to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted three months ago. A deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed over 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and kidnapped about 250 people, sparked the conflict.
“Averting a regional escalation in the Middle East is critical.” “It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being drawn into a regional conflict,” said Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy leader, during a visit to Beirut.
In recent weeks, Israel has stepped up its military onslaught in northern Gaza while continuing its strong offensive in the territory’s south, pledging to smash Hamas. In the south, the majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians have been crammed into smaller regions, creating a humanitarian calamity while being bombarded by Israeli bombings.
Hezbollah Fires Rockets At Israel In ‘Initial Response’ To Killing Of Top Leader From Allied Hamas
On Saturday, the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza claimed 122 Palestinians had been killed in the previous 24 hours, increasing the total to 22,722 since the war began. The figure does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. According to the government, two-thirds of those deceased were women or children. According to the ministry, the total number of injured has risen to 58,166.
According to hospital documents obtained by The Associated Press, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah received at least 46 bodies overnight. Many of the men appeared to have been shot. Fighting has erupted in the region between Israeli forces and militants. According to the records, the fatalities also included five members of a family who were murdered in an airstrike.
The most recent Israeli-dropped leaflets advised Palestinians near the hospital to flee, fearing “dangerous fighting.”
The European Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the target of Israel’s military offensive, received the bodies of 18 persons killed in an overnight bombing on a house in the city’s Maan area, according to Saleh al-Hamms, head of the hospital’s nursing department. According to witnesses, more than three dozen people, including some displaced, took refuge in the residence.
Hezbollah Fires Rockets At Israel In ‘Initial Response’ To Killing Of Top Leader From Allied Hamas
Israel has blamed Hamas for civilian casualties, claiming that the group has infiltrated Gaza’s civilian infrastructure. Despite this, international criticism of Israel’s actions in the conflict has escalated as the civilian death toll has risen. The US has asked Israel to do more to protect civilians, even as it continues to deliver weapons and bombs while shielding its close partner from international condemnation.
Blinken began his latest tour to the Middle East on Saturday in Turkey. The Biden administration believes Turkey and others may exert influence, notably on Iran and its proxies, to alleviate concerns about a regional conflict. These concerns have grown in recent days as a result of incidents in the Red Sea, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran.
SOURCE – (AP)
