Hezbollah drones target north Israel, causing injuries and sparking fire
The Israeli military said on Thursday it struck six Hezbollah "terrorist infrastructure sites" and a weapons storage facility in southern Lebanon overnight, as fears grew of a full-blown war.
The air force "struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites in the areas of Chihine, Taybeh, Blida, Mays al-Jabal, Aitaroun and Kfarkela in southern Lebanon, as well as a Hezbollah weapons storage facility in the area of Khiam in southern Lebanon," a military statement said.
Hezbollah said it had targeted military positions in northern Israel, without specifying what weapons it used. Israeli hospitals reported that they treated at least eight patients injured in the attacks while the army said that a drone attack on Beit Hillel near Kiryat Shmona sparked fires but caused no injuries.
Hezbollah said it targeted soldiers in the al-Marj post and attacked with suicide drones a command center in Ya’ara and artillery positions in Beit Hillel, in response to Israeli strikes on Kfarkela and other villages in south Lebanon.
Later in the day, Hezbollah targeted the Ramia and the Hanita posts and the Zar'it barracks with artillery shells and rockets, while Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs.
The volley of strikes was a signal by Hezbollah that it would continue its near daily fire, which it says is a show of support for Hamas amid Israel’s 11-month-old campaign in Gaza.
The exchanges have killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents on each side of the border.
Israel and Hezbollah have repeatedly pulled back from an all-out war under heavy pressure from the United States, France and other countries.
But in their recent warnings, Israeli leaders have said they are determined to change the status quo dramatically.
Israeli began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, Israeli officials said. Israel’s army chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said plans have been drawn up for additional action against Hezbollah, though media reported the government has not yet decided whether to launch a major offensive in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Lebanon was still reeling from the unprecedented mass bombings on Tuesday and Wednesday of hundreds of electronic devices that killed at least 32 people and wounded more than 3,000 others across Lebanon.
The device explosions appeared to be the culmination of a monthslong operation by Israel to target as many Hezbollah members as possible all at once. Over two days, pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated, wounding and even crippling some fighters, but also maiming civilians connected to the group’s social branches and killing at least two children.
The explosions have rattled anxious Lebanese fearing a full-scale war. The Lebanese Army said it has been locating and detonating suspicious pagers and communication devices, while the country’s civil aviation authorities banned pagers and walkie-talkies on all airplanes departing from Beirut’s international airport until further notice.
Source: Naharnet
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