Israel Kills Three Hezbollah Members in Drone Strike, Hezbollah Fires Rockets in North

Hezbollah hits Israeli military base in Safed

Israel has carried out a fresh attack in southern Lebanon, at the border town of Ghandouriyeh, where three drone attacks reportedly killed three Hezbollah members. Of the three, only the identity of one has been disclosed.

The Israeli military claims that one of the slain was Ali Hussein Burji, who they described as the “commander” of Hezbollah’s aerial forces, and responsible for recent drone strikes in northern Israel.

The three were killed while driving in a car not far from where Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Wissam Hassan Tawil on Monday. An al-Jazeera reporter said she was present on the road at the time of the recent attack, and a Hezbollah official confirmed the deaths of their members.

A local paramedic was also wounded in the Israeli attack, as Israel wanted to keep the ambulance from reaching and trying to save the victims of the strike. It was unclear if there were any further casualties.

Hezbollah struck additional Israeli targets in retaliation as well on Tuesday. A drone reportedly hit Adamit military base in the north, in the town of Safed where rockets were said to fly into the north, hitting multiple towns. Israeli reports described sirens going off in several towns, sometimes for hours because of drones also flying overhead.

There was no word yet on the casualties in northern Israel, although Hezbollah showed direct hits scored on a number of sites. Israel did, however, insist that the strikes on the military base not only caused no casualties but did “no damage.”

Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem said the group does not want to see the Gaza War expanded into Lebanon. At the same time, he said “if Israel expands, the response is inevitable,” adding the goal is to “deter Israel.”

That is easier said than done, and Israeli hawks have been talking up the war in Lebanon, with many eyeing political gain for doing so. Even US officials expressed concern that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may see an expanded war as vital to his political survival. The US officials also said they believe Hezbollah does not want a wider conflict.

Israelis from border towns said many have become virtual ghost towns, with most residents fleeing further south to stay with family, hoping that they would be outside of the direct line of fire in the event a Hezbollah war escalates.

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.