The Lebanese movement Hezbollah launched on Wednesday a rocket barrage toward Israel in response to the assassination of a group’s commander in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.
Agence France Presse cited an Israeli military spokesperson as saying that about 100 rocket launches had been made toward Israel from Lebanon.
Hezbollah confirmed in a statement that “as part of the response to the attack and assassination that the enemy carried out” in Tyre, its fighters attacked two positions in the Israeli-annexed Syrian Golan Heights “with 100 Katyusha rockets”.
The group also claimed another retaliatory attack with Falaq rockets on a base in northern Israel.
Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, on October 7, the Lebanese movement Hezbollah has engaged directly, but relatively in a limited way in the war against the Israeli occupation.
However, recently, heightened tensions have raised fears of a full-scale war.
Several fires broke out in the Golan as a result of rocket launches by Hezbollah. pic.twitter.com/2Xt11Ja09v
— Arya – آریا 🇮🇷🏴 (@AryJeay) July 3, 2024
The Assassination
An Israeli airstrike targeted on Wednesday a car in the Hawsh area near Tyre in southern Lebanon, resulting in the assassination of a prominent Hezbollah military commander.
The target was identified as Mohammed Ni’ma Nasser, commander of Hezbollah’s Aziz unit and a leader of one of the party’s three axes in southern Lebanon.
This is the second high-profile assassination since June 11, when Taleb Abdullah, another leader of one of the three axes in southern Lebanon, was killed in an airstrike in Joya, about 15 kilometers from the Israeli border, along with three other party members.
Hezbollah said in a statement that “with great pride and honor, the Islamic Resistance exalts the martyr leader fighter Mohammed Ni’ma Nasser ‘Al-Hajj Abu Ni’ma’ born in 1965 from the town of Hadada in southern Lebanon, who rose as a martyr on the road to Al-Quds.”
The Syrian Golan Heights are on fire following a barrage of Hezbollah rockets and drones.
Better for it to burn than for Israeli occupation settlers to have it.
These thieves will never know a moment's peace as long as they occupy the Middle East.
عليّ وعلى أعدائي pic.twitter.com/fCUD4WkwY3
— Richard Medhurst (@richimedhurst) June 9, 2024
Destructive and Terrorist Aggression
The ground developments come as Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the Israeli attacks on Lebanon as “destructive and terrorist aggression” and called for international intervention.
Mikati stated that the events in southern Lebanon are a result of Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon’s sovereignty and violations of international resolution 1701, which demands both parties cease their attacks and for Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
Mikati also warned of the risk of the Gaza conflict spreading to Lebanon and the wider region, emphasizing Lebanon’s commitment to peace based on justice and international law.
In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the importance of preventing an escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, warning that it would endanger regional stability and harm both Lebanon and Israel.
In contrast, Iranian Chargé d’Affaires Ali Bagheri Kani warned that Lebanon would become a “hell with no return” for Israelis, also suggesting that Israel is trying to offset its losses from the Gaza conflict.
The New York Times reported that the US envoy to Lebanon, Amos Hochstein, plans to meet with French officials in Paris to discuss de-escalation strategies along the Hezbollah-Israel border.
Hezbollah Leader Abu Mahdi Nasser (Hajj Abu Nimah) Has Been Killed In An Attack On His Car
HEZBOLLAH OFFICIAL STATEMENT
ON ASSASSINATION OF LEADER
“With greater pride and honor, the Islamic Resistance celebrates the martyr, Mujahid Commander Muhammad Nimah Nasser, “Hajj Abu… pic.twitter.com/5o9Ihwdjfa
— ZAMAN MALIK (@zamannx) July 3, 2024
In Support of Gaza
According to Hezbollah sources, the movement has carried out 1,194 military operations in the first 250 days of war, killing and wounding over 2,000 Israeli soldiers.
Israel has occupied parts of Lebanon for decades and has only left the country in 2000, following stiff Lebanese resistance under Hezbollah’s leadership.
It attempted to re-occupy Lebanon in 2006 but failed in what Lebanon considers a major victory against Israel.
Israel, however, continues to occupy parts of Lebanon, namely the Sheeba Farms region.
Hezbollah has vowed to recover every inch of Lebanon that has been occupied by Israel contrary to international law.
(PC, AJA)
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