Israeli airstrikes intensified on Thursday (19/9) against several cities in southern Lebanon amid growing concerns about an escalating conflict between Hezbollah and Tel Aviv. The tensions came after two waves of explosions targeting wireless devices in Lebanon left 37 dead and thousands injured.
More than 50 airstrikes were carried out on cities in southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that warplanes carried out a series of strikes on the Mahmoudiyeh area near the villages of Aaichiyeh and Kasarat al-Aroosh in the Jezzine area.
Israeli enemy aircraft launched ten missiles towards the Birket Jabbour area, Anadolu reported on Friday (20/9). In a separate incident, four people were injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting the town of Hanniyeh in the southern Lebanese district of Tyre, according to the Health Ministry.
The ministry noted that those wounded included three Palestinians and a Lebanese citizen. Meanwhile, Hezbollah said in a statement late Thursday that it targeted an Israeli military site in Metula in northern Israel with a barrage of Falaq rockets.
After the attack, the mayor of Metula said rockets launched from southern Lebanon caused several fires and significant damage to homes, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
In another statement, the Lebanese group said it also attacked the Shomera Battalion command headquarters in northern Israel with a salvo of Katyusha rockets. Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it struck 30 Hezbollah launchers ready to fire 150 rockets into Israel.
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Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have escalated in recent days following a wave of explosions on Wednesday that affected “ICOM” wireless equipment across Lebanon, resulting in 25 deaths and 450 injuries.
The blast followed a similar blast on Tuesday that hit a pager device, which killed 12 people, including two children, and injured 2,800 others, with 300 in critical condition.
The Lebanese government and Hezbollah held Israel responsible for the pager explosion, and threatened it with severe consequences.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the blast, which comes amid escalating cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s deadly war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 41,300 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7. (I-2)
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