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Sorting through all the updates today, while the war in Gaza continues, the situation at the Lebanon border and in the West bank is quickly escalating.
Hezbollah says it fired ‘dozens’ of rockets at Israeli positions
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group says it fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at Israeli artillery positions on Friday, a bombardment it said was in response to Israeli strikes in the south.
Hezbollah fighters targeted “enemy artillery positions … with dozens of Katyusha rockets” the group said in a statement, adding it was “in response to the enemy’s attacks on … southern villages and civilian homes”.
The Israeli army said, “Approximately 40 launches were identified crossing from Lebanese territory, some of which were intercepted”. “No injuries were reported,” it said, adding that it had earlier intercepted two Hezbollah attack drones that had crossed from Lebanon.
Israeli army says it attacked Hezbollah compound in southern Lebanon
The Israeli army says it has attacked a Hezbollah military compound in southern Lebanon.
Is this the beginning of something bigger?
The Israeli military said it counted 40 rockets launched from Lebanon into Israel. Most of them were intercepted, but some fell in open areas. They’re also saying that Hezbollah sent across the border a couple of armed drones into Israel.
This is a large number of rockets and drones, one of the biggest barrages of the war so far in Gaza.
Is this just a big example of the same kind of tit-for-tat rocket fire exchanges of hostilities across the northern border with Hezbollah in Lebanon? Or is this the beginning of something bigger – an attack from Iran or by Iran that Israel is expecting any moment now?
Israeli Defense Minister Gallant said that Israel is prepared to defend itself on the ground and in the air, in close cooperation with “our partners”, meaning the US.
Situation escalating ‘minute by minute’
Tension has been mounting over the past night. This morning Israel launched several air strikes in southeastern Lebanon, an area which is one of Hezbollah’s strongholds. So far we don’t know if there are any casualties, but Israel attacked with about five air strikes.
The situation is escalating minute by minute and everyone is anticipating what is going to be the next step. Everybody is anticipating an Iranian retaliation against the killing of the generals in Damascus.
Explosions go off along Lebanon-Israel border
Over the last few minutes, we’ve been hearing explosions from the other side of the border. About 30 minutes ago, there were a couple of missiles launched from around this area. Then sirens sounded from the headquarters of the United Nations mission which is in Naqoura. A Level 2 alert is on, which means that there might be Israeli attacks at any time.
Throughout the day, there were many Israeli air strikes especially towards the southeast. Hezbollah also claimed responsibility for launching an explosives-laden drone towards the northern Israeli communities.
This all comes just hours after Hezbollah launched tens of missiles into the occupied Golan Heights.
Israel says it hit southern Lebanon after launches
The Israeli army has released a statement about the situation in the country’s north amid the increased hostilities with Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon. “Following the sirens that sounded in the area of Hanita in northern Israel, three launches that were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israel fell in open areas,” it said.
“In addition, two Hezbollah explosive UAVs that were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israel a short while ago exploded in the area of Hanita,” the statement continued, adding that Israeli army artillery “struck in southern Lebanon”.
Reservist injured in ‘UAV attack’ on Hanita kibbutz: Israeli military
The Israeli military says a reservist, who is a member of the security team at Hanita kibbutz in northern Israel, had been severely wounded in an “explosive UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] attack”.
Earlier sirens had sounded in the area by the border with Lebanon, with the Israeli military reporting that three launches “fell in open areas” and that “two Hezbollah explosive UAVs that were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israel a short while ago exploded in the area of Hanita”.
US embassy warns citizens in Lebanon to avoid border areas
The US embassy in Beirut is warning citizens to avoid travel to areas near the borders with Israel and Syria due to increased tensions in the region. “We remind US citizens of the continued need for caution and encourage them to monitor the news for breaking developments,” the embassy said.
Several countries have issued warnings to their citizens about travelling to Israel, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories in the past few days amid fears of escalating regional tensions as Iran said it would seek revenge after Israel allegedly struck its consulate in Damascus.
