Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and the Israeli military exchanged cross-border fire (Bloomberg) in a flare-up today in which no casualties were immediately reported. The attacks mark the first time that Hezbollah has sent rockets over Lebanon’s border with Israel since September 2019. Israel’s army said it does not wish to escalate the situation into a full-blown conflict.
Rockets were shot from Lebanon into Israel on Thursday and Friday, to which Israel responded with artillery fire and strikes. While Hezbollah took responsibility for today’s rocket fire, it was unclear who was responsible (AP) for Thursday’s attacks, an Israeli military spokesperson said. The escalation comes as Lebanon is mired in political and economic crisis and amid regional tensions between Israel and Iran, which backs Hezbollah; Israel blamed Iran for a strike on an oil tanker last week. Since the start of the Gaza conflict in May, rockets have been launched from Lebanon into Israel (Axios) five times, all of which Israel viewed as linked to Palestinian groups rather than Hezbollah.
Analysis
“The escalation, which largely targeted a disputed border strip known as Shebaa Farms, added to concerns that the exchanges, limited so far, risked spilling into open conflict,” write the Washington Post’s Steve Hendrix and Sarah Dadouch.
“Israel’s use of aircraft yesterday, for the first time in years, was probably a test of Hezbollah’s reaction given the Lebanese crisis. The party’s response today was a way of saying Lebanon’s problems change nothing,” tweets the Carnegie Middle East Center’s Michael Young.
This Backgrounder explains Hezbollah’s origins and the group’s role in Lebanon.
