Israel strikes rocket sites in Lebanon

Israeli jets struck what its military said were rocket launch sites in Lebanon early yesterday in response to two rockets fired from Lebanese territory, in an escalation of cross-border hostilities amid heightened tensions with Iran.

The rockets launched from Lebanon on Wednesday struck open areas in northern Israel, causing brush fires along the hilly frontier.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which came from an area of south Lebanon under the sway of Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas.

Israel had responded with several rounds of artillery fire on Wednesday before launching air strikes early yesterday, the military said.

“Fighter jets struck the launch sites and infrastructure used for terror in Lebanon from which the rockets were launched,” it said.

The military also struck an area that had seen rocket launches in the past, it said.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Israel’s overnight air strikes were the first since 2006 and showed an escalation in its aggressive intent.

Aoun said in a tweet the strikes were a direct threat to the security of southern Lebanon and violated UN Security Council resolutions.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said earlier that Israeli warplanes had carried out two raids on the outskirts of the Lebanese town of Mahmudiya, about 12km from the border.

Speaking to Israel’s YNet TV, defence minister Benny Gantz said: “This was an attack meant to send a message.

“Clearly we could do much more, and we hope we won’t arrive at that.”

The border incidents came after a suspected drone attack on Thursday last week on a tanker off the coast of Oman that Israel, the US and Britain blamed on Iran.