Hezbollah claimed responsibility for rocket fire on northern Israel on Friday August 6. The Israeli army recorded more than ten shots from southern Lebanon, including “Most were intercepted by the air defense system [le Dôme de fer] “, according to a statement, the other rockets having fallen in unpopulated areas.
In the process, it carried out bombings in the disputed region of the Syrian Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967, from which the rocket salute was fired. A daily journalist Jerusalem Post broadcast videos of the rockets entering Israeli territory and their interception by the Iron Dome Israeli. No results were communicated at first, on one side or the other.
Another video from the rocket fire in Israel’s north with Iron Dome interceptors being fired https://t.co/JjAeebYzQh
Hezbollah claims to have carried out these bombings “In response to Israeli air raids” of August 5 in southern Lebanon, themselves justified by the fire of three rockets. Unlike Friday’s attack, these had not been claimed by Hezbollah. Israeli airstrikes on Lebanese territory are the first since 2014.
The United States, a historic ally of Israel, condemned “Firmly” Hezbollah attacks. They urged Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah militants from firing rockets at Israel and “To regain control of the region”. “We strongly encourage all efforts to maintain calm”, said US State Department spokesman Ned Price.
A “very dangerous” escalation, alarms the UN
The Israeli air force regularly bombs suspected positions of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as well as in neighboring Syria, but such attacks on Lebanese territory raise fears of an even more serious conflagration in the region.
The exchanges of fire at the Lebanese-Israeli border coincide in particular with an upsurge in tensions between Israel and Iran – Hezbollah’s ally and main financier – in particular the hack of the oil tanker in the Arabian Sea. Mercer street, run by the company of an Israeli billionaire. Israel and the United States blamed the attack on Iran while Tehran denied any involvement.
In 2006, the war between Israel and Hezbollah left more than 1,200 dead on the Lebanese side, mostly civilians, and 160 on the Israeli side, mostly military. Israel and Lebanon are still technically at war, and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is deployed in the south to act as a buffer between the two countries.
It was criticized in particular by the Israeli defense minister, Benny Gantz, for its inaction after the first round of rockets. Its commander, General Stefano Del Col, held a tripartite meeting on Thursday with military officials from both countries. Shortly after the latest attacks, UNIFIL warned of a situation “Very dangerous, with acts of escalation observed on both sides over the past two days.”
