Hezbollah said on Sunday that it had fired “artillery shells and guided missiles” at Israeli positions in a disputed area on the Lebanon-Israel border in solidarity with the Palestinian Hamas, which was launching an offensive against Israel.
“The Islamic Resistance (…) attacked three positions of the Zionist enemy in the occupied Shebaa Farms (sector), using a large number of artillery shells and guided missiles,” said a press release from Lebanese Hezbollah.
The pro-Iranian formation said it carried out these shootings “in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and the Palestinian people,” as Hamas launched an unprecedented offensive against Israel from the Gaza Strip on Saturday.
The Israeli army, in turn, announced that it had used a drone to attack “Hezbollah terror infrastructure” in the border area.
Residents of the border town of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon said they heard about 10 rockets fired at Israeli positions early Sunday morning.
An AFP photographer noted that the area was being flown over by Israeli surveillance drones.
Two more shots were fired from Lebanon in the morning, followed by new Israeli bombings, the official National News Agency (ANI) said.
“We recommend that Hezbollah not intervene. If he does, we will be ready,” warned Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht.
Hezbollah, Israel’s bete noire, has close ties to Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
In 2006, a devastating war against Israel resulted in more than 1,200 deaths on the Lebanese side, mostly civilians, and 160 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.
After the Israeli army withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000 after 22 years of occupation, the United Nations drew a “Blue Line” defining the border between the two countries.
Several sectors on the border, including Chebaa Farms, are disputed between the two countries.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), stationed in southern Lebanon, called for restraint on Sunday. “We are in contact with the authorities on both sides (…) to contain the situation and prevent a more serious escalation,” she said.