Cities in southern Lebanon were bombarded with Israeli bombings on Wednesday (11) in response to a new Hezbollah rocket attack, as crossborder violence stretched into its fifth day.
Hezbollah said it fired precision missiles at an Israeli position in response to the deaths of at least four of its members in Israeli artillery strikes earlier this week. At the time, the group promised “firm” responses to attacks on Lebanese territory, particularly deadly ones.
The Israeli army said it was attacking Lebanon after one of its positions in the north, near the Israeli town of Arab alAramshe, came under tank fire on Wednesday.
A Lebanese security source said Hezbollah fired two precision missiles at Israel, which the group considers its archenemy.
Residents of the Lebanese town of Rmeish said Israeli artillery strikes took place nearby. A security source told Portal that Israeli artillery shells hit the rocket launch point in Dhayra, opposite Arab alAramshe.
Lebanese in these cities say the recent violence has brought back memories of the summer of 2006, when Iran and Israelbacked Hezbollah waged a brutal monthslong war.
Local Lebanese television channel alJadeed broadcast images of columns of white smoke rising from a forested area near some houses and farmland in Dhayra.
Both Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas faction claimed attacks from Lebanon on Tuesday. Lebanon’s Hezbollah fired a guided missile at an Israeli tank and released a video of its destruction, and Hamas said it fired a volley of rockets at Israel.
The violence along the border came after Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel over the weekend and Israel launched a bombing campaign against Gaza. The attacks killed at least 1,200 Israelis and injured 2,700. In the retaliation, 1,055 Palestinians were killed and 5,100 injured.