Israel Shells Lebanon After Rocket Strike

Netanyahu Threatens 'Pre-emptive Action'

Fire was exchanged across the Israel-Lebanon border today, with at least one Lebanese rocket striking an empty field in Israel and the Israeli military responding with artillery strikes. In both cases no damage and no casualties were reported.

The Israeli Army claimed someone in Lebanon fired five rockets at Israel, though the Israeli government has only been able to confirm one actual hit, and Lebanese soldiers were shown with the wreckage of at least one of the makeshift rockets, which landed inside Lebanon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that he holds the Lebanese government responsible for the attack, and threatened “possible pre-emptive action” against Lebanese territory in the future. Netanyahu also dubbed the incident a “double war crime,” arguing Lebanon’s government should be held accountable both for the rockets themselves and their failure to prevent the rockets.

Obviously, the Lebanese government didn’t fire the rockets, and so far it is unclear who did. Israeli officials are assuming Hezbollah is to blame, but the group has many more and better rockets than those fired, so it seems strange that they would choose to launch a small, random barrage with their least powerful, least accurate weapons.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.