Hezbollah fires over 200 bombs towards Israel to avenge killing of senior commander
- In Reports
- 10:43 PM, Jul 04, 2024
- Myind Staff
Lebanon's Hezbollah carried out a significant rocket and drone assault on Israel on Thursday, threatening to strike additional targets in response to the killing of Muhammad Nimah Nasser in southern Lebanon.
Nasser, also known as "Hajj Abu Nimah," was the third high-ranking official killed in nearly nine months of cross-border fighting that began after Israel launched its war on Gaza.
Hours later, Hezbollah launched numerous Katyusha rockets and Falaq rockets with heavy warheads into northern Israel and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. It launched additional rockets on Thursday and claimed to have also sent explosive drones into several bases.
Hezbollah stated that it launched over 200 rockets and a swarm of drones at 10 Israeli military sites in retaliation for Israel's killing of Hezbollah commander Mohammed Nasser in the south on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said "numerous projectiles and suspicious aerial targets" had entered its territory from Lebanon, many of which it said were intercepted. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Israeli air force "struck Hezbollah military structures" in the areas of Ramyeh and Houla", it said, referring to two villages in south Lebanon.
Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, speaking at an event in Beirut commemorating Nasser, indicated that his group would expand its targets.
"The series of responses continues in succession, and this series will continue to target new sites that the enemy did not imagine would be hit," Safieddine said.
Sparked by the Gaza war, the conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel has been gradually intensifying for months, raising fears of a full-scale war, which both sides have indicated they want to avoid and diplomats are working to prevent.
The United States has been leading diplomatic efforts to deescalate the fighting. However, Hezbollah has stated that it will not cease fire as long as Israel continues its offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The hostilities have inflicted a heavy toll on both sides of the frontier, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.
Israeli officials, meanwhile, say they could decide to go to war in Lebanon if efforts for a diplomatic solution fail. Hezbollah's retaliation comes a day after a senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, Amos Hochstein, met with French President Emmanuel Macron’s Lebanon envoy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, in Paris.
A White House official said that Amos Hochstein, discussed French and American efforts to restore calm in meetings with French officials on Wednesday.
"France and the United States share the goal of resolving the current conflict across the Blue Line by diplomatic means, allowing Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return home with long-term assurances of safety and security," the official said, referring to the demarcation line between the two neighbours.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that Israeli forces were hitting Hezbollah "very hard every day" and will be ready to take any action necessary against the group. However, the preference is to reach a negotiated arrangement.
In northern Israel, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed. In Lebanon, more than 450 people — mostly fighters but also dozens of civilians — have been killed. Israel sees Hezbollah as its most direct threat and estimates that it has an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles. In 2006, Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war that ended in a draw.
Image source: Reuters
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