IDF shells targets in Lebanon in response to rocket attack
IDF artillery shelled targets in southern Lebanon on Sunday night in response to a rocket attack from the area earlier in the night.
Flag of Hezbollah and Lebanon flying together. Credit: Arthur Sarradin
The IDF stated that a rocket was launched from Lebanon into northern Israel. It landed in an open area near Kibbutz Matzuva, causing no casualties or damage.
In response, IDF Artillery batteries targeted the source of the launch in Lebanon.
This is the fourth time in the past year that rockets were fired from Lebanon at Israel.
The last attack from Lebanon occurred in August 2021, when Hezbollah fired 19 rockets from southern Lebanon into northern Israel. The Iron Dome system intercepted most of the rockets, and some of them landed in open areas without causing any casualties or damage. The IDF responded by firing shells at the sources of the rocket launches.
Israeli security officials have assessed that the shooting from Lebanon was carried out by Hamas forces in Lebanon with Hezbollah’s approval.
Israeli analyst Yoni Ben Menachem, of the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs (JCPA), estimates that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah approximates that the Bennett government wants to contain the situation and fears escalation and therefore gave a “green light” to the rocket attack. He further estimates that the rocket attacks will continue in the coming days, toward the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan.
It is possible that Hamas is signalling to Israel not to operate in the Gaza Strip and is demanding that the Gaza border be reopened after it was closed by Israel over the weekend due to rocket attacks from the Strip in recent days, or that Hamas is paying a “participation tax” as a symbolic act to cool the Islamic Jihad’s demands to attack Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Zahar Jabarin, Hamas’ deputy leader in Judea and Samaria, said a few days ago that “Hamas’ response will be regional and not limited to Palestine.”
Israel’s security establishment is bracing for further violence, especially toward the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan, and following the first anniversary of Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021, which was launched by the IDF following a Hamas rocket attack on Jerusalem that began at the height of the Month of Ramadan.
