ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/LEBANON:Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah trade heavy fire, sources in Lebanon say
BEIRUT: In response to a recent uptick in hostilities, Hezbollah in Lebanon said on Wednesday that it had fired dozens of rockets into an Israeli border town. Meanwhile, reports came in from sources in Lebanon of heavy Israeli airstrikes on a town close to the border.
Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been fighting each other for the bloodiest times in nearly two decades since fighting broke out in Gaza last October, sparking fears of a more protracted and catastrophic war between the heavily armed rivals.
Hezbollah claims that its Katyusha rocket attack on the border town of Shomera was in response to Israeli raids on Lebanese communities, including one that occurred the day before on Hanin and resulted in the deaths of at least two people, including an 11-year-old girl.
A security source in Lebanon claims that around ten Israeli airstrikes were carried out on Wednesday against the Lebanese hamlet of Ayta al-Shaab.
As part of the ongoing hostilities in the Gaza War, Hezbollah announced on Tuesday that it had carried out its most significant attack to date, a drone strike on Israeli military installations north of the Israeli coastal city of Acre.
The strike seemed to be among the most intricate that Hezbollah had disclosed in the previous six months, employing drones intended to distract Israeli air defense systems while others carrying explosives were launched against Israeli positions.
On April 7, the Israeli military said that it has finished a further phase of preparations for a potential conflict with Hezbollah on its northern front.
The conflict has mostly remained around or near the Israeli-Lebanese border, with Israel occasionally striking farther into the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, even if the most recent clashes have been the worst in years.
Since October 7, Israeli strikes in neighboring Syria have claimed the lives of thirty Hezbollah fighters, while about 250 have been killed in Lebanon. In total, this is more than Hezbollah suffered during the battle with Israel in 2006.
