The Lebanese movement Hezbollah announced on Friday that its fighters targeted surveillance devices at an Israeli military site near Lebanon’s southern border.
In response, the Israeli army launched raids and artillery strikes on border towns, reporting that it had detected 35 missile and drone launches from Lebanon and “intercepted most of them,” Al-Jazeera reported.
Hezbollah said in a statement that its members “targeted the spy devices at the Israeli Birkat al-Risha site (opposite the Lebanese town of al-Bustan) with appropriate weapons and hit them directly.”
Al Jazeera’s correspondent reported that the town of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon was targeted by an Israeli raid, and Israeli artillery shelled the towns of Khiyam and Kfar Kila.
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Yesterday, Hezbollah attacked three Israeli sites in the Galilee and the occupied Shebaa Farms, bombed the air defense base of the Israeli Northern Command in the Beria barracks with Katyusha rockets, targeted the Naqoura naval site with drones, and bombed the Ruwaysat al-Qarn site in the occupied Shebaa Farms with missiles.
The Israeli army announced that six of its soldiers were injured on the border with Lebanon, noting it had monitored 35 launch operations from Lebanon and intercepted most of them without reporting any injuries.
The Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that electricity was cut off in Safed in the north following the rockets targeting the city.
Additionally, Israeli Channel 24 published photos showing fires in several locations near Safed after Hezbollah launched numerous missiles and drones from southern Lebanon.
Emergency Evacuation
In a related development, the US Navy announced that the USS Wasp and Special Operations Expeditionary Unit 24 crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and reached the Mediterranean Sea. This ship will be alongside the American landing ship USS Oak Hill, currently in the region.
NBC reported that the US Department of Defense was moving military assets near Israel and Lebanon to prepare for the possible evacuation of Americans if fighting breaks out. Washington is reportedly discussing the coordination of evacuation operations and any coalition military actions with close allies.
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US officials have revealed that Washington is prepared for emergency evacuation operations in the event of a war.
Jordan has advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Lebanon at this time “in light of the developments taking place in the region,” according to a statement by the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Heightened Tensions
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.
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.
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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)
