TENSIONS RISE AS HEZBOLLAH AND ISRAEL EXCHANGE BLOWS
▶ Iran-backed group launches deadly rocket salvo from Lebanon as risk of all-out war increases
Tension intensified between Israel and Hezbollah yesterday as the Iran-backed group launched dozens of rockets, killing one person, in retaliation for an overnight strike that killed seven emergency responders.
The attack raised fears that skirmishes along the Lebanese-Israeli border could develop into an all-out conflict. A source close to the Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance” in Beirut said the Israeli strike was “a new escalatory act”.
Israel’s military said about 30 rockets were launched from Lebanon yesterday, of which at least three struck the northern city of Kiryat Shmona.
A man’s body was pulled from under the rubble of an industrial building that was hit and caught fire, the Israeli fire and rescue service said.
Hezbollah launched its rocket salvo in retaliation for an Israeli strike that killed the emergency responders in Habariyeh, southern Lebanon.
They worked for the Islamic Medical Association, which is linked to Jamaa Islamiya, a Lebanese political party and armed faction with ties to Hamas.
Jamaa Islamiya said the seven rescue workers were killed in a strike on an emergency centre that housed a dozen responders. Emergency workers from the group called the strike a “heinous crime”, while Jamaa Islamiya’s political arm described it as a “cowardly” and “treacherous” attack.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry accused Israel of breaching international laws by attacking a medical centre.
An Israeli military spokesman said the target was a Jamaa Islamiya operative who had been involved in attacks on Israel. Jamaa Islamiya, also known as the Islamic Group, has an armed wing that has taken part in attacks on Israel and has lost several fighters since the outbreak of the cross-border fighting in October.
A Lebanese security source told The National that “Jamaa Islamiya does not have its own military sites, but Hezbollah co-operates with some
elements at some points through the joint use of the party’s trenches and tunnels”.
The source with ties to the Iran-backed militias said Hezbollah, which is part of the “Axis of Resistance”, had “quickly confirmed, and carried out, its threat that this aggression will not pass without response and punishment”.
“It is important to note that Hezbollah announced on Tuesday, before the strike on Habariyeh, that it had carried out what is believed to be the first attack of its kind in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, with more than 50 Katyusha rockets,” the source said.
“The attack came in response to the strikes carried out by Israel near Baalbek the day before.”
Hamas’s allies in Lebanon, mainly Hezbollah, have been exchanging cross-border fire with Israeli troops on an almost daily basis since October 8, the day after the Israel-Gaza war broke out.
However, the border clashes have gradually expanded in scope and range. On Tuesday, Israel launched its deepest strikes into Lebanese territory so far, with an attack near the city of Hermel in north-eastern Lebanon.
Hezbollah says its attacks are a show of support for its ally Hamas, and are intended to relieve pressure on the devastated Gaza Strip.
However, Israel has struck officials from both Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, including a drone strike on Beirut in early January that led to the death of Hamas’s deputy leader Saleh Al Arouri and five other members of the militant group.
US special envoy Amos Hochstein visited Beirut this month and, working with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, made diplomatic efforts to set up talks aimed to reach a ceasefire on the Lebanese-Israeli border and resolve disputes along the frontier.
Israel’s demands include Hezbollah withdrawing its fighters north of the Litani River, something the militia has refused to consider.
Hezbollah has said it will not negotiate on an end to the border clashes until a ceasefire is implemented in Gaza. However, months-long talks mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar have yet to reach a truce in the enclave.
Before the latest strike, cross-border hostilities had killed at least 331 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally. Most of those killed were Hezbollah fighters, but 57 civilians were also among them.
At least 10 soldiers and seven civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to the Israeli military.
The clashes have raised fears of a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which fought a devastating monthlong war in 2006.
Hezbollah has said it will not negotiate on an end to the border clashes until a ceasefire is implemented in Gaza