Israel attacks Hezbollah in Lebanon after intercepting an “enemy aircraft.”
This Sunday, Israeli aircraft attacked positions of the Shiite group Hezbollah in Lebanon after intercepting an “enemy aircraft” that had flown into Israel. The Israeli army reported in a statement that its anti-aircraft system intercepted the plane in the Even Menachem area of northern Israel last night. Israeli warplanes then launched strikes in several areas in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah targets and subsequently discovered explosions that indicated there were weapons at the points attacked, a statement said.
Hezbollah, considered the most important paramilitary organization in the Middle East, fired at least 62 projectiles against one of the most important intelligence centers in northern Israel on Saturday in an initial response to the killing of the number two of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Tuesday. Saleh. al Arouri, on the outskirts of Beirut in a bombing attributed to Israel.
The Lebanese Shiite militia confirmed that five of its fighters were killed by Israeli attacks, including with white phosphorus, on Saturday in a particularly violent day on the Israel-Lebanon border.
The Israeli-Lebanese border is experiencing its highest tension since the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, following an increase in aggression from pro-Palestinian militias the day after the war broke out between the Islamist group Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip last October 7. Hostilities have increased following the bombing that killed Hamas deputy chief Saleh Al Arouri in Beirut on Tuesday. The act is attributed to Israel, which neither acknowledged nor denied the operation.
Israel has deployed more than 200,000 troops to its northern border, where violence has also displaced thousands of residents. About 80,000 people were evacuated from communities in northern Israel and more than 70,000 fled southern Lebanon. (Efe)