The Israeli air force says it struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in response to cross-border rocket fire in the most significant flare-up of tensions since a ceasefire brought uneasy calm to the region.
Israel and Hezbollah exchanged cross-border attacks for 13 months in the wake of the Gaza conflict before Israel launched an intense ground and aerial campaign in September last year, decimating the Iran-backed militant group’s leadership.
The Israeli strikes followed artillery and tank shelling of positions inside Lebanon, and it came after sirens echoed across northern Israel, as the military detected five projectiles had been fired at the country. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), three were intercepted by the country’s air force and two fell inside Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the IDF to take “robust action against dozens of terror targets.”
“Israel will not allow any harm to its citizens or its sovereignty,” Netanyahu said.
The Lebanese military said it had found and dismantled “three primitive rocket launchers in the area north of the Litani River,” as it carried out investigations following the incident. It was not immediately clear who was behind the rocket fire into Israel.
The UN’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said it was “alarmed” by the Saturday morning escalation in violence, calling on all sides to “uphold their commitments.
“We strongly urge all parties to avoid jeopardizing the progress made, especially when civilian lives and the fragile stability observed in recent months are at risk,” it said in a statement. “Any further escalation of this volatile situation could have serious consequences for the region.”
Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, blamed the Lebanese government for cross-border attacks and vowed to retaliate.
“We promised security to the Galilee communities – and that is exactly what will happen,” Katz said in a statement Saturday, referring to inhabitants of northern Israel.
The Lebanese presidency condemned “attempts to drag once again into a cycle of violence,” saying President Joseph Aoun had instructed the army to protect the country’s citizens, as well as investigate the Saturday morning incident.
Israel continues to maintain a military presence at five locations in the south of Lebanon, despite agreeing to withdraw as part of a ceasefire deal, struck in November last year.
The deal brought a significant reduction in more than a year of cross-border strikes and put an end to months of a full-scale war.
The last time Israel accused the Lebanese armed group of firing projectiles across the border was in early December.
Escalation in the north comes after Israel restarted military operations in Gaza earlier in the week, putting an end to a fragile truce that had largely held since January.
This is a developing story and will be updated.