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Hezbollah launched more attacks from southern Lebanon against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on February 2, ignoring more threats by Israel.
In two separate statements, Hezbollah said its fighters fired rockets at the Ruwaisat al-Alam military site near the border with Lebanon and later targeted a gathering of Israeli troops nearby. The group announced in another statement that it had targeted a building in the settlement of Avivim with “suitable weapons.”
The attacks were carried out in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in response to recent Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, Hezbollah said.
Separately, Hezbollah’s Military Media released video footage showing an attack with Russian-made Kornet anti-tank guided missiles that targeted surveillance equipment at the al-Radar military site on one of the peaks of Mount Hermon a day earlier.
From its side, the IDF announced that it struck a cell and Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon in response to recent attacks by the group.
The cell was struck by a fighter jet in the town of Aitaroun, the IDF said, adding that fighter jets also hit several sites of Hezbollah in the towns of Khiam, Qana and Jabal Blat, and artillery shelled areas in the towns of Jebbayn, Atta al-Shaab and Aitaroun to “remove threats.”
Lebanese media said that the airstrikes on Jebbayn hit the building of a civilian cooperative. However, there were no casualties.
Hezbollah and its allies have been launching attacks from southern Lebanon against the IDF since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. Israel has been growing frustrated with the border clashes, which displaced more than 80,000 from its northern areas.
Touring the north, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that a pause in the war on Gaza will not apply to the ongoing clashes with Hezbollah.
“If Hezbollah thinks that when there is a ceasefire in the south it will hold fire and we’ll stop, it’s making a big mistake,” Gallant said after meeting troops from the IDF’s Alpine Unit on Mount Hermon, according to a statement from his office.
He added: “I say here explicitly: Until we reach a situation in which it’s possible to restore security for residents of the north, we will not stop. When we reach this through a [diplomatic] arrangement or military means, we can be calm.”
So far, the clashes on the Lebanese-Israeli border have resulted in six civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of nine IDF soldiers. On the Lebanese side, more than 200 have been killed. The toll includes 166 Hezbollah fighters, 14 of whom were killed in Syria, 28 Palestinians, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 24 civilians.
