JERUSALEM, Oct 15 (Portal) – Lebanese Hezbollah militants launched attacks on Israeli army posts and a northern border village on Sunday, and Israel responded with attacks in Lebanon as U.N. peacekeepers warned that border conflicts were escalating.
Sporadic gunfire on the Israel-Lebanon border over the past week has raised concerns that fighting with Hamas militants in Gaza could escalate into a wider conflict.
Hezbollah’s attack on Shtula, a farming community bordering the border fence, left one person dead and three others injured, the militant group and Israeli medics said, as the worst border violence since a month-long war in 2006 entered its second week.
Hezbollah also said it attacked barracks in Hanita, Israel, with guided missiles, inflicting casualties “on enemy ranks.”
The Israeli military said it had carried out attacks in Lebanon in retaliation and declared a zone within 4 km (2 miles) of the Lebanese border closed to public access.
Three security sources confirmed to Portal that Israeli artillery had attacked several areas in the south.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said it fired 20 rockets from Lebanon at two Israeli settlements.
Israeli tanks are seen on a road near Israel’s border with Lebanon in northern Israel, October 12, 2023. Portal/Lisi Niesner/File Photo Acquire License Rights
The U.N. peacekeeping force UNIFIL said its headquarters in southern Lebanon was hit by a rocket but no one was injured. It said they were working to find out where the projectile came from.
“We continue to actively cooperate with authorities on both sides… but unfortunately, despite our efforts, military escalation continues,” it said in a statement.
Israel’s defense minister said on Sunday that Israel has no interest in waging war on its northern front and that if Hezbollah holds back, Israel will leave the situation along the border as it is.
“We have no interest in a war in the north. We don’t want to escalate the situation,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters.
“If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a very high price. Very high. But if she holds back, we will respect that and leave the situation as it is,” Gallant said.
Hezbollah has said it is ready to fight Israel and will not be swayed by calls from Arab states and foreign powers to stay on the sidelines.
Sources said Hezbollah has so far kept its operations limited in scope to prevent a major spillover into Lebanon while keeping Israeli forces busy.
Reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Timour Azhari and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Writing by Timour Azhari; Edited by Jon Boyle and Sandra Maler
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