Israel Strikes NE Lebanon, Killing 2 and Wounding 20

Hezbollah fires 100 rockets against Golan Heights

Tensions continue to rise on the Lebanon-Israel border today, with Israel carrying out airstrikes against northeastern Lebanon, not far from the Syrian border, leveling a warehouse containing food and killing at least two people.

Officially, Israel says the two airstrikes targeted Hezbollah sites and were in response to rocket fire earlier in the day. Lebanese security officials say 20 people were wounded in the attack and at least 9 remain hospitalized.

Earlier, Hezbollah fired some 100 rockets against targets in northern Israel, saying they were aiming for a pair of army bases in the occupied Golan Heights. There was no word on what was hit in the rocket fire, but alarms were reportedly heard in both Golan and Galilee.

Hezbollah said the rockets were retaliation for an Israeli attack near the city of Baalbek, also in northeastern Lebanon. The strikes were reported Monday night as hitting a former Hezbollah building.

In addition to strikes in northeast Lebanon, Israel reported airstrikes against the southern region as well, saying they hit at least three rocket launchers that were the source of some of the Hezbollah fire.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir responded in anger to the rocket fire, complaining that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant should’ve started the war already. He concluded his comments demanding “war, now!”

Gallant has talked up a war in Lebanon and suggested any deal in the Gaza Strip would involve an escalation against southern Lebanon. The international community has been trying to negotiate a truce along the Lebanon border.

This may prove difficult, as analysts are arguing that the Netanyahu government is keen to keep the war going, in Lebanon if not in Gaza, as a way to protect the PM’s power.

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.