Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire on Lebanon border

Tension escalating as militants test Israel's defences

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Bombs dropped by Israel lit up the skies over southern Lebanon on Tuesday evening as forces retaliated against Hezbollah targets.

Munitions were dropped on suspected targets in the border region a day after a gun battle between Israel's military and Hezbollah militants.

Hours earlier, the powerful Iran-backed organisation buried three of its members who were killed in an Israeli strike.

The clashes along the Lebanon-Israel border came three days after Hamas, the Palestinian militant group governing Gaza, launched a co-ordinated attack that killed more than 900 Israelis, mostly civilians.

We continue to be in contact with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line to de-escalate this very dangerous situation

Andrea Tinetti,
Unifil spokesman

This raises concerns about Lebanon becoming a second front in the war between Israel and Hezbollah-allied Hamas.

“At around 5.30pm, Unifil [UN Interim Force in Lebanon] detected rocket fire from south of Tyre,” Unifil spokesman Andrea Tinetti told The National.

“We continue to be in contact with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line to de-escalate this very dangerous situation. We urge everyone to exercise restraint at this critical time.”

Israel's military said “15 rockets were launched from Lebanese territory” and that “the IDF Aerial Defence Array successfully intercepted four rocket launches” while “10 launches fell in open areas”.

In retaliation, the Israeli military is “currently responding with artillery fire”, it added.

The Lebanese Army said Israel conducted artillery shelling in the regions of Al Qulayla, Al Dhahira and other border areas within the Tyre district.

Hezbollah and Hamas claimed Tuesday's attacks on Israel from Lebanon, Reuters reported.

“The rocket fire from Qlieleh was fire by Palestinian factions, after which [Israel] shelled our observation points in the Shebaa farms area. The resistance responded by destroying an armoured vehicle in the town of Avivim with guided missiles,” a Hezbollah source told The National.

The Israeli army said there was no casualties in the attack carried out by Hezbollah.

Schools and businesses in the area have been shuttered since Monday, when many residents evacuated due to border clashes after Palestinians militants crossed into Lebanon and Israel retaliated, prompting Hezbollah to respond by firing on an Israeli army barracks.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is supporting Hamas in its war against Israel, have claimed responsibility for these infiltrations.

So far as a result of the border clashes, three members of Hezbollah and two members of Islamic Jihad have been killed, according to the two groups. At least one Israeli soldier was also killed in the battle, the Israeli military said.

Border residents tense after blasts

A Palestinian girl holds two children as she stands on a street in Gaza city as Israel continues to launch air strikes. AFP

Smoke plumes billow during Israeli air strikes on Gaza city. AFP

A Palestinian girl following an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis. Reuters

Palestinians survey the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

A Palestinian woman, covered in dust, carries a child in Gaza city. AFP

A Palestinian man with a child outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza city. AFP

Israeli soldiers walk through Kibbutz Be'eri. Days earlier Hamas militants killed more than a hundred civilians near the border with Gaza. Getty Images

A wounded Palestinian man Ala Al-Kafarneh, who survived Israeli strikes, attends a hospital in Gaza city. Mr Al-Kafarneh lost his pregnant wife and several members of his family in air strikes after they fled Beit Hanoun. Reuters

Supermarket shelves containing dry goods are left depleted in Tel Aviv. Getty Images

An injured Palestinian man arrives at Al-Shefa hospital in Gaza city. EPA

A boot lies on the ground outside a damaged house in Be'eri, Israel. EPA

An Israeli army self-propelled howitzer near the border with Gaza in southern Israel. AFP

Palestinian mourners during the funerals of Al-Agha family members killed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

Family and friends of May Naim, 24, who was killed by Palestinians militants at a party near the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, during her funeral in Gan Haim, Israel. Getty Images

Palestinian children in Khan Younis fill bottles with water from public taps during the conflict with Israel. Reuters

Men outside a morgue in Khan Yunis console a woman mourning loved ones killed in an Israeli air strike. AFP

A Palestinian girl injured in Israeli strikes is taken to hospital in Gaza City. Reuters

An Israeli woman is evacuated by paramedics following a rocket attack launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel, in Sderot. Reuters

A man looks at the destruction in the ravaged Jabalia refugee camp, following overnight Israeli air strikes. AFP

The daughter of Zakaria Abu Maamar, a member of Hamas's political office, at her father's funeral, after he was killed in an air strike in Khan Younis. Reuters

A collapsed building after an Israeli bombardment in Gaza City. AFP

Firefighters attend a burning building after an Israeli bombardment in Gaza City. AFP

Women and children in Gaza City. AFP

An Israeli army soldier passes a Merkava battle tank in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon. AFP

An Israeli strike on the port of Gaza City. AFP

Demonstrators outside the West Los Angeles Federal Building in California during a rally in support of Israel. AFP

Mourners at the funeral of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli shelling in Khan Younis in Gaza. AFP

Israeli journalists take cover during a rocket attack from Gaza in the southern Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza near the border. AFP

Palestinians rescue a young girl from the rubble of a destroyed residential building following an Israeli air strike. AP

Mourners at the graveside of Eden Guez, who was killed as she attended a festival that was attacked by Hamas gunmen from Gaza. Reuters

An Israeli fireman recovers after extinguishing cars set on fire by a rocket fired from Gaza. AP

Smoke billows from a boat after a strike by Israel on the port of Gaza City. AFP

Destroyed residential buildings in Gaza City. AP

Rockets from Gaza launched towards Israel. Reuters

A Palestinian woman sits among the rubble in the destroyed Al-Ramal neighborhood following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. EPA

Israeli soldiers in armoured vehicles near the northern town of Kiryat Shmona close to the border with Lebanon. AFP

Buildings destroyed by Israeli strikes in Gaza city. Reuters

Nicole Izsak, right, confronts a Palestinian supporter near the Israeli consulate in New York, claiming her cousin is being held hostage in Gaza. AFP

The abandoned site of the Supernova music festival, besieged by Hamas militants in southern Israel. AFP

An attack on the site by Hamas gunmen from Gaza left at least 260 people dead. Reuters

A man carries a blood-stained flak jacket belonging to a Palestinian journalist, who was killed with two colleagues when an Israeli missile hit a hospital building while they were outside reporting, in Gaza city. Reuters

An Israeli soldier holds a rescued dog as he takes position near a bomb shelter in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, southern Israel. Reuters

Protesters chant and wave the Palestinian flag at a rally in Melbourne, Australia. Getty Images

Israeli border police walk past a burnt-out car as rockets are launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, in Ashkelon, southern Israel. Reuters

Palestinians amid the rubble following Israeli air strikes that razed a neighbourhood in Gaza city. AP

Palestinians carry a wounded man at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city. EPA

Palestinians inspect damage in the aftermath of Israeli strikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Reuters

Despite this, many residents have chosen to stay, even as news broke on Tuesday evening that clashes had erupted again.

“My neighbours just left a few minutes ago,” an elderly Rmeish native told The National. “But I’m staying.”

Like many on the southern frontier, she shrugged off concern for her safety.

“We’re used to it. And I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”

As the possibility of war looms, the lives of residents in villages immediately outside of the area where the clashes are taking place have, for the most part, carried on as usual.

In Hanouiye on Tuesday afternoon, the only indication of the previous night’s border clashes was a funeral procession for one of the three Hezbollah fighters killed in the Israeli bombardment on Monday.

Those attending the funeral who were willing to speak to The National all said they were not frightened by the prospect of war.

“But Sayed [Hassan] Nasrallah won’t be dragged into war until he assesses that it’s appropriate,” said one person – who identified herself as a “woman of southern Lebanon” – referring to the leader of Hezbollah.

“And we support whatever decision he makes.”

Lebanon – where Hezbollah wields considerable power – and Israel have technically been in a state of war since the latter’s creation in 1948.

Although tension between the two countries often leads to small-scale conflict, it has only rarely erupted into all-out war.

But with Israel threatening a massive ground invasion of the blockaded Gaza Strip and Hezbollah expressing solidarity with Hamas, residents of southern Lebanon question whether their home might be the next front line.

“We have Iran backing us – just like the United States is protecting Israel,” said the woman attending the funeral. “Israel wants to control us, but they won’t.

“They’ve occupied Palestine for the last 75 years. Now they’re finally starting to feel the same oppression.”