Israeli warplanes strike south ahead of Nasrallah speech
Clashes continued on Friday between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, as tensions rose further after a strike on Tuesday killed Hamas's number two, Saleh al-Arouri, in a Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut.
Israeli warplanes struck the outskirts of the southern towns of Majdalzoun and Mhaibib and a region near a Lebanese army position in Aita al-Shaab, while shells hit the border towns of Houla, Tayr Harfa, al-Jebbayn, Rashaya al-Foukhar, Fardis, al-Bustan and Yarin.
Fears had recently mounted that Israel's war in Gaza could spread across the region after strikes in Iraq and deadly blasts in Iran on Wednesday and Thursday, in addition to Arouri's killing on Tuesday.
Experts say a wider conflict is unlikely for now but bad calculations or badly calibrated reprisals could lead to a conflagration.
A day after al-Arouri was killed in an airstrike blamed on Israel in Beirut, two bomb blasts claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 84 people in Iran as they commemorated Revolutionary Guards general Qasem Soleimani killed four years ago in a U.S. strike.
A day later, a U.S. strike in Baghdad killed a pro-Iran military commander from Al-Hashed al-Shaabi.
The Israel-Lebanon border has been rocked by escalating exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7.
the violence has left 175 people dead in Lebanon, including 129 Hezbollah fighters and more than 20 civilians, including three journalists, according to an AFP count.
In northern Israel, nine soldiers and five civilians have been killed, according to Israeli authorities.
On Wednesday, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed the killing of Arouri would not go unpunished. Nasrallah is expected to deliver a speech today Friday at 14:30 p.m.
Source: Naharnet
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