Israel says it hit Hezbollah posts in Lebanon after taking fire
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces said the incident began when shots were fired from Lebanon at IDF troops operating on the Israeli side of the frontier. The units deployed illumination rounds and flares and patrolled roads to ensure that no Hezbollah forces were trying to enter Israel.
In response, Israeli helicopters and aircraft targeted Hezbollah observation posts along the border early Wednesday, the IDF said. Restrictions on civilian movements were lifted soon after the operation ended.
The IDF said Hezbollah positioned a sniper squad near the border in proximity to a U.N. base staffed by a Nepalese battalion, accusing the militant group of trying to entangle the peacekeepers in any Israeli return fire.
“It was a very dangerous and cynical practice by Hezbollah to deliberately locate their troops near a U.N. position and then deliberately engage our troops,” Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said at a briefing with reporters Wednesday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on a family trip near the northern city of Safed at the time of the incident and was taken to an IDF base nearby.
“I suggest that Hezbollah not try the crushing force of Israel,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Hezbollah is once again endangering Lebanon with its aggression.”
The exchange was the latest of several recent spikes in tension along the heavily militarized border, which has been monitored by United Nations forces since the two countries fought a war in 2006.
In July, a Hezbollah commander was killed in airstrikes against pro-Iranian militants operating near Damascus, Syria, an attack attributed to Israel. Less than a week later, Israeli forces used heavy shelling to repel what they described as an attempted incursion by Hezbollah fighters. Hezbollah, which is known for claiming credit for its operations, denied any involvement.
Hezbollah is both an armed militant group and a political party in Lebanon. It is considered an Iranian-funded terrorist group by both Israel and the United States, and the IDF maintains its right to respond to Hezbollah actions even inside Lebanese territory.
“The IDF holds the Lebanese government responsible for all events emanating from Lebanon,” the army said in its statement Wednesday.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah told a religious gathering Wednesday night that Hezbollah would not comment on the incident for now because it is “an important and sensitive issue,” according to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station.
The station accused Israel of “running a campaign of incitement” against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The strikes further strain the already fraying 14-year cease-fire which ended the last war Israel fought with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah has pledged to retaliate for the killing of its commander in Syria. Netanyahu has warned Lebanon, which is reeling from economic unrest and a massive blast at the port of Beirut last month, that the militant group was “embroiling Lebanon” at the behest of Iran.
Israel has long complained that the U.N. mission charged with monitoring the border is a toothless force that has been incapable of preventing Hezbollah from digging tunnels and staging weapons in the border zone.
The mandate for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, expires at the end of August. Israel’s new U.N. representative said he would use the recent border incidents to push for the force to be renewed with additional powers to access and monitor Hezbollah-controlled areas.
“There is no justification for having an ineffective force operate in territory in which Hezbollah is using to arm itself and turn southern Lebanon into a terrorist base,” Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan said in a letter to U.N. Security Council members Wednesday. “Only a significant change to UNIFIL’s purpose and capabilities on the ground can justify its existence.”
