The Israeli army bombed the surroundings of several border towns in southern Lebanon this Friday, after an explosion in the border fence between the two countries, according to Lebanese security sources and AFP journalists present at the scene.
A Lebanese security source indicated that the bombing occurred after an “infiltration attempt” from Lebanon, which was followed by an exchange of fire on the border, according to Al Manar, the Lebanese channel of the Shiite movement Hezbollah.
The Israeli army announced that it had fired artillery into Lebanese territory after “an explosion at the border fence.”
“The Israeli army responds with artillery fire against Lebanese territory,” and the bombings reached the outskirts of the towns of Dahayra and Aalma ech Chaab, according to correspondents of the French agency AFP deployed on the ground.
In Dahayra, the bombings targeted a Lebanese army post, which was destroyed, but without causing any casualties, the Lebanese military forces reported in a statement, cited by the Spanish news agency EuropaPress.
Military sources confirmed to the Lebanese newspaper L’Orient le Jour and the Lebanese television channel LBC that the affected structure was an observation tower, destroyed in the midst of an “exchange of fire” between the Israeli army and “an unidentified party on the side.” Lebanese”, between the cities of Dahayra and Aalma ech Chaab.
The clashes occurred, according to sources, near a checkpoint belonging to the Lebanese army and the Greens Without Borders organization, an environmental group sanctioned by the United States for covering up the activities of Hezbollah militias on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
Before the bombings, the Israeli army reported an explosion that caused minor damage to a section of the security fence on the Lebanese border near Kibbutz Hanita, prompting Israeli forces to respond with artillery fire towards Lebanon. to avoid possible infiltrations.
Shortly after, Israel confirmed a second operation with “artillery and tank shots”, after having identified “shots” in the vicinity of the Israeli ‘kibbutz’ of Misgav Am, just 500 meters from the ‘Blue Line’, a demarcation negotiated by the UN that separates Israel from Lebanon.
The clashes occur amid strong protests in Beirut, called for this Friday by Hezbollah, and calls for calm by the Lebanese Government so as not to worsen tensions between both countries, after a week of skirmishes since the beginning of the conflict. , last Saturday.
The pro-Iranian Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah has so far limited itself to a measured intervention in the conflict triggered last Saturday by an attack on Israel by its ally, the Palestinian Hamas, which has already caused almost three thousand deaths on both sides.
On Monday, the Shiite movement claimed that Israeli strikes had killed three of its members, while Palestinian fighters claimed responsibility for a failed infiltration attempt.
The next day, the armed wing of the Islamist movement Hamas claimed responsibility for launching rockets from southern Lebanon, while Israel announced that it had attacked Hezbollah observation posts.
Since the 2006 war between Lebanon and Hezbollah against Israel, which caused more than 1,200 deaths on the Lebanese side, mostly civilians, and 160 deaths on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers, a “balance of terror” has prevailed. in the region.
Source: TSF
