Israel Strikes Hezbollah Targets in Southern Lebanon

Netanyahu vows more tough responses against Lebanon

Israel’s Army reported on Wednesday that they’d carried out airstrikes against southern Lebanon, targeting observation posts belonging to Hezbollah. They accused Hezbollah of firing shots toward Israeli territory.

Details of damage done in the strikes aren’t clear, and Prime Minister Netanyahu threatened a more forceful series of attacks against Lebanon if they believed there was further provocation from the Hezbollah side.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declined to comment directly on the “important and sensitive” incident, promising more comments at an appropriate time in the future. It is not unusual for Nasrallah to delay comments during tense moments.

This security problem comes amid Israel’s push to reform the UNIFIL force in southern Lebanon into a group hostile to Hezbollah, while Lebanon’s government is opposing any major changes, fearing they would lead to more conflicts in the area.

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.