Middle East: The Israeli military launched airstrikes in Lebanon – 2024-02-16 00:02:08

Israel’s military said today that warplanes had launched a “series of strikes” in Lebanon, raising fears of an escalation between the two neighboring countries after months of daily firefights in the Gaza war.

Since the day after Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7, which sparked the war in the Gaza Strip, the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah has been targeting Israeli army positions on the border in a show of support for its ally, the Palestinian Islamist group.

Israel, for its part, regularly bombs southern Lebanon and launches targeted attacks against Hezbollah officials.

The army has not given details, at this stage, about these raids while Lebanese media reports that three villages were hit.

Five injured in Safed community

The raids followed a rocket fired from Lebanon that injured several people in northern Israel today, according to Israeli health sources. According to the Magen David Adom emergency services, seven people were injured, including five in the Safed community.

An AFP photographer saw medics and soldiers evacuate a wounded man from Safed hospital by military helicopter bound for another unit.

At this stage there has been no claim of responsibility by Hezbollah for the rocket launch.

Violence between the Israeli army and Hezbollah has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the border.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said yesterday that “once the attack on Gaza stops and there is a ceasefire, there will be a ceasefire in the south” of Lebanon.

For more than four months, at least 243 people, including 175 Hezbollah fighters and 30 civilians, have been killed in southern Lebanon, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side, 15 people have been killed, including 9 soldiers and 6 civilians, according to the army.