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Israel carried out what were reported to be dozens of air strikes on Lebanon on Saturday evening after announcing it had intercepted three rockets fired towards the border town of Metula in the morning, raising fears of a renewal of cross-border conflict that ended with a ceasefire in November.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said earlier he had ordered the military to retaliate to the rocket fire and appeared to threaten to strike Beirut again. “The fate of Metula is the same as Beirut,” Israeli media reported him as saying.
“The Lebanese government bears responsibility for any fire from its territory," he said.
Later Israel announced it was attacking dozens of Hezbollah sites in a second wave of retaliation. There were reports of explosions in the cities of Tyre and Baalbek in what was the heaviest attack since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect almost four months ago. The Lebanese Health Ministry said one person was killed and seven others injured in Tyre.
In the morning local media reported Israeli air strikes in the southern districts of Nabatieh, Jezzine, Saida, Sour, Bint Jbeil and Hasbaya. The ministry said two people were killed in the town of Touline in Nabatieh, including a young girl. Eight others were injured. Two people were injured in the town of Kfar Kila in the same district, the ministry said, while the state National News Agency reported one person injured in Yohmor Al Shaqif, also in Nabatieh.
The rocket fire from Lebanon came days after Israel resumed its war in Gaza, which prompted more than a year of cross border fire by the Lebanese group Hezbollah in solidarity.
Hezbollah denied any involvement in the rocket launches, saying any claims by Israel that it was responsible "come within the context of pretexts for its continued attacks on Lebanon".
The militant and political group also informed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam that it was not involved, Lebanese TV channel LBCI reported.
A Lebanese security source told The National that the "improvised" nature of the launch sites used in the attack indicated that it was "unlikely" that Hezbollah was involved.
Lebanon's army said it had dismantled three "primitive rocket launchers" north of the Litani River, between the towns of Kfar Tibnit and Arnoun in Nabatieh.
"Do you think this is the way we work?" a Hezbollah source told The National when asked for comment about the attack.
Hezbollah and Israel agreed to a ceasefire in November to end 14 months of fighting, including a sharp escalation in final two months as Israel launched intense bombing raids on southern and eastern Lebanon and sent its troops across the border. However, Israel has continued to launch air strikes at what it says are Hezbollah-linked targets and has kept its troops stationed inside Lebanese territory at five points along the border, in violation of the truce agreement.
Mr Aoun on Saturday called on "all relevant forces in the south, especially the monitoring committee established under the November 2024 agreement, and the army to follow what is happening with the utmost seriousness to avoid any repercussions, and to control any violation or negligence that could threaten the country in these delicate circumstances", Lebanon's National News Agency said
Mr Salam warned that renewed military activity on southern border "could drag the country into a new, devastating war", NNA said, quoting a statement from the prime minister's office.
The Prime Minister asked Defence Minister Michel Mansi to "take all necessary security and military measures to reaffirm that only the state holds the authority over war and peace", the agency said.
Mr Salam also urged the UN to intensify international pressure on Israel to fully withdraw from Lebanese territory, saying its continued presence was a violation of UN Resolution 1701 and the November ceasefire agreement.
A representative for Unifil, the UN peacekeeping force stationed in southern Lebanon since the previous Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006, said the situation "remains extremely fragile, and we encourage both sides to uphold their commitments".
"We strongly urge all parties to avoid jeopardising the progress made, especially when civilian lives and the fragile stability observed in recent months are at risk," Andrea Tenenti said.
"Any further escalation of this volatile situation could have serious consequences for the region."
