Israel Destroys House in Southern Lebanon, Intercepts Drone

Nasrallah says Israel ‘too exhausted’ for comprehensive war on Lebanon

After an overnight exchange of rockets and artillery fire in southern Lebanon, Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike against a two-story house in al-Naqoura on Thursday. Ambulances reportedly rushed to the scene, but there is no information about casualties yet.

Israel referred to the attack in the context of attacking “terror infrastructure,” though there is no indication this was anything but a normal house, and not even one sheltering suspects.

Israel also attacked the area around the southern Lebanese town of Kounin. Air raid sirens reportedly sounded in Upper Galilee as Israel’s military reported intercepting an “aerial target,” almost certainly a drone, crossing the border from neighboring Lebanon. Such interceptions are increasingly common as more and more drones are brought to bear in the ongoing offensive.

All of this comes just a day after Israel attacked and killed a Hamas figure near Rashideh refugee camp in southern Lebanon, near the city of Tyre. The Hamas member, Hadi Mustafa, was reportedly a military leader within the camp, although Hamas has downplayed his overall importance.

That attack, too, followed a campaign in which Hezbollah fired some 100 rockets into northern Israel, some of which were intercepted. Israel responded by attacking a warehouse in the northeast, killing two and wounding 20, in one of the rare occasions they’ve hit so deep into the country.

This ongoing tit-for-tat is only adding to international efforts to forestall an Israeli invasion of Lebanon with a border deal. While the hope is that Hezbollah would be moved back from the border, Hezbollah has conditioned any deal on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has sought to downplay the risk of a comprehensive Israeli war, saying he believes the Israeli campaign in Gaza has left them “too exhausted” to try to mount such a new endeavor.

Israeli military leaders clearly disagree. Repeatedly, through recent weeks, they’ve emphasized readiness to carry out such an offensive, and have conducted multiple drills to prepare for that eventuality.

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.