Early today, Lebanese media outlets were reporting Israeli airstrikes against a Hezbollah site in Brital, in the Bekaa Valley along the border with Syria. There were also claims of a Hezbollah bomb strike along the Israeli border, though this was never reported in the Israeli press, and likely did not happen.
Hezbollah is denying the reports, insisting no airstrikes took place in either Lebanon or Syria. The Israeli military, as usual, refused to discuss the matter at all, insisting they don’t respond to foreign reports about what they did or didn’t attack.
Israel has repeatedly attacked Hezbollah targets in both Lebanon and Syria during the civil war, killing a number of the Shi’ite militia’s fighters involved in the anti-ISIS campaign in Syria, and fueling growing tensions along their mutual borders.
It is hard to believe Hezbollah would be able to keep the attack quiet enough that it is unclear if it happened or not, however, and usually Hezbollah uses reports of Israeli strikes as a way to try to petition Iran and other allies for more backing to resist them.
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That's a nice policy isn't it.
"Did you just start a war on that country?"
"We don't comment on these things"
"Oh, alright then"
What source was quoted in those Lebanese press reports? It could have been nothing more than trolls.
The current NYT Magazine has a long article about elaborate false reports now common in trolling. It has gone past name calling, to use considerable resources to fake news.
There's a widespread belief that Israel wants to attack Lebanon this summer in an effort to destroy or weaken Hezbollah. Hezbollah leadership would likely be aware of this, and might be denying an airstrike to lessen internal pressure advocating retaliation, which would of course be all Israel needs to justify all out war.