Conflict escalates on Lebanese front
Israel’s third day of fighting terror escalated on Monday as a group of Lebanese infiltrators were killed in northern Israel, prompting air strikes on positions in Southern Lebanon.
Israel Defence Forces deployed in the northern town of Nahariya amid escalating tensions on the Lebanese border on Oct. 9, 2023. Photo by Noam Falakasa/TPS
After an exchange of fire with the terrorists by the border in the Western Galilee area, six victims suffering gunshot and shrapnel injuries were evacuated to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, including one in a critical condition. Israeli media reports said three terrorists were killed.
The Israel Defence Forces were searching the area to make sure additional terrorists had not entered the country.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the infiltration.
In the aftermath, the IDF said it launched air strikes from combat helicopters against targets in Southern Lebanon.
Israelis living within nine kilometres of the border fence were instructed to remain in their homes, with their doors locked and lights out, until further notice. In addition, residents of Kiryat Shmona and Ma’alot were instructed to immediately enter bomb shelters.
“I hope we will not have to prove our abilities. Our resilience is excellent, and the residents demonstrate a spirit of volunteering in the community. They also trust the IDF, despite the events that happened yesterday,” Doron Shnaper, a spokesman for the Kiryat Shmona muncipality told the Tazpit Press Service.
The town of over 22,000 residents is about two km (one mile) from the Lebanese border.
On Monday morning, a mortar shell from Lebanon hit an open area, also in the Upper Galilee but further east, the IDF said.
Sirens sounded in Moshav Ramot Naftali and Kibbutz Yiftah, south of Kiryat Shmona and near Lebanon.
Tensions in the north first rose on Sunday morning as mortars were fired from Lebanese territory towards Mount Dov in northern Israel. The Israel Defense Forces retaliated with artillery fire and also destroyed a Hezbollah outpost the terror group managed to provocatively set up several meters inside the Israeli side of the border, though outside Israel’s security fence.
Later on Sunday, the IDF fired a Patriot missile at an aerial drone that crossed over the Lebanese border.
“I heard the shooting today; the safe room was shaking like crazy; it was awfully close,” Vicki Tiferet, a resident of Moshav Kfar Yuval told the Tazpit Press Service.
Israel was rocked by a surprise attack on Saturday by Hamas, as terrorists infiltrated Israeli communities on the Gaza border, taking hostages. The death toll from the rampages and rocket barrages stands at 800 and is expected to climb.
Many military reservists being called up for duty have been deployed in the north.
Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Monday that 300,000 reservists have been mobilized for duty, the largest reserve call up since the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
The IDF “has never mobilized so many reservists so quickly — 300,000 reservists in 48 hours,” Hagari said.
The Blue Line demarcating the 120 km-long border was created in 2000 by UN cartographers to verify Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, which the UN Security Council later certified as complete. The border runs from Rosh HaNikra on the Mediterranean coast to Mount Dov, where the Israeli-Lebanese border converges with Syria.
Hezbollah says it does not recognize the Blue Line and disputes numerous points along the border.
Among those points is a strip of land on Mount Dov itself, which Israel captured from Syria. Hezbollah claims the area called Shebaa Farms belongs to Lebanon. Syria has not commented on the matter.
According to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the terror group is forbidden from operating near the border and Israeli officials have been critical of UNIFIL’s inability to stop Hezbollah.
Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has said he perceives Israeli social divisions over a controversial judicial overhaul initiative as a sign of weakness.
