Israel launches air strikes at Lebanon day after rockets strike north

By Jeffrey HellerUpdated August 5, 2021 â€" 5.48pmfirst published at 4.04am

Jerusalem: Israel’s army has escalated its response to rocket attacks this week by launching rare air strikes on Lebanon.

The army said in a statement on Thursday that jets struck the launch sites from which rockets had been fired over the previous day, as well as an additional target used to attack Israel in the past. The army blamed the state of Lebanon for the shelling and warned “against further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israel’s sovereignty.”

The overnight airstrikes were a marked escalation at a politically sensitive time. Israel’s new eight-party governing coalition is trying to keep peace under a fragile cease fire that ended an 11-day war with Hamas’ militant rulers in Gaza in May. Several incidents leading up to this week’s rocket fire from Lebanon have focused attention on Israel’s northern border and the United States swiftly condemned the attacks on Israel.

The Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV reported the strikes at around 2am, saying they hit an empty area in the Mahmoudiya Village in Marjayoun district.

Avichai Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman, said the Lebanese government is responsible for what happens on its territories and warned against more attacks on Israel from south Lebanon

Two rockets launched from Lebanon on Wednesday struck Israel, which responded with artillery fire amid heightened regional tensions over an alleged Iranian attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf last week.

Israel’s Magen David Adom national ambulance service said there were no casualties on the Israeli side of the hilly frontier, where the rockets ignited a brush fire.

Fields burn after a rocket was fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory.Credit:AP

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket strike, launched from an area of south Lebanon under the sway of Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas.

In a statement, Israel’s military said three rockets were fired from Lebanon, with one falling short of the Israeli border and the others striking inside Israel. Witnesses in Lebanon also reported that several rockets were fired at Israel.

“In response, (Israeli) artillery forces attacked Lebanese territory,” the military said. Some two hours after the initial shelling, the military said its artillery had fired again at targets, which it did not identify, along the frontier.

The Lebanese army said Israeli retaliatory attacks, which extended to several villages in south Lebanon, had led to a fire in the town of Rashaya al-Fokhar. It was investigating to find out who had fired the rockets from Lebanon.

An Israeli firefighter attempts to extinguish a fire caused by rocket near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.Credit:AP

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said its Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major-General Stefano Del Col, was in contact with both parties.

“He urged them to cease fire and to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation, especially on this solemn anniversary,” the statement said, referring to the Beirut port explosion on August 4 last year.

The border has been mostly quiet since Israel fought a 2006 war against Hezbollah, which has advanced rockets.

But small Palestinian factions in Lebanon have fired sporadically on Israel in the past, and two rockets were launched at Israel on July 20, causing no damage or injuries. Israel responded to that incident with artillery fire.

The latest border incidents occurred after an attack last Thursday, which Israel blamed on Iran, on a tanker off the coast of Oman. Two crew members, a Briton and a Romanian, were killed. Iran has denied any involvement.

Briefing a meeting of ambassadors from UN Security Council countries to Israel on Wednesday, Defence Minister Benny Gantz said: “It is time for diplomatic, economic and even military deeds (against Iran) â€" otherwise the attacks will continue.”

On Tuesday, Britain, Romania and Liberia told the United Nations Security Council it was “highly likely” that Iran used one or more drones to strike the vessel.

The United States and Britain said on Sunday they would work with their allies to respond to the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday that Israel was keeping open the option of acting alone against Iran if necessary.

Reuters, AP

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