Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
Responding to a rocket attack, Israel launched on March 28 strikes against the Lebanese capital, Beirut, for the first time since the ceasefire brokered by the United States entered into effect last November.
In the morning, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that two rockets were launched from southern Lebanon, with one being intercepted and the other falling short within Lebanese territory. Rocket sirens sounded in Kiryat Shmona and the nearby settlements of Tel Hai, Margaliot, and Misgav Am amid the attack. No losses were reported however.
This was the second such attack from Lebanon in the past week, after three rockets were fired at the settlement of Metula on March 22. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack at the time.
A senior source within Hezbollah also denied that the group was behind the attack on March 28. Speaking to Al-Mayadeen TV, the source claimed that the recent rocket fire from Lebanon was “part of a suspicious attempt to fabricate pretexts for the continuation of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon.”
In addition, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam issued a statement calling on the military to “uncover those behind the irresponsible rocket fire that threatens Lebanon’s stability and security,” and take them into custody.
Still, the IDF opted to hold the Lebanese government responsible for the rocket fire and launched in the morning a series of strikes against targets of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The Al-Manar TV, which is run by Hezbollah, said that the targeted areas included the outskirts of the town of Qaaqaait al-Jisr and the town of Khiam in the Nabatieh area.
Later in the afternoon, the IDF struck a building it claimed was used by Hezbollah’s drone unit in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh.
The IDF issued an evacuation warning for the building and the surrounding area before the strike and also reportedly carried out several warning shots.
The building struck was used by Hezbollah as a drone storage facility, the military said in a statement, claiming that the building belonged to the group’s aerial forces, known as Unit 127.
“Hezbollah has placed its terror infrastructure in the heart of the civilian population. This is another example of the Hezbollah terror organization’s cynical use of Lebanese citizens as human shields,” an IDF statement said.
Following the strikes, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon to enforce the ceasefire agreement or the IDF will carry out additional strikes in Beirut.
“As I said, the fate of Kiryat Shmona is the same as Beirut. If there is no quiet in Kiryat Shmona and in the Galilee communities, there will be no quiet in Beirut,” Katz said in a statement.
“For any attempt to harm the Galilee communities, the roofs of homes in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district will shake,” the minister added.
“I send a clear message to the Lebanese government: If you do not enforce the ceasefire agreement, we will,” he warned.
Later on, the Lebanese military announced that it found a rocket launcher used in this morning’s attack on Kiryat Shmona in the Qaaqaait al-Jisr area, near Nabatieh, and had begun an investigation into which group was behind the fire.
The IDF halted strikes against Beirut after the U.S.-brokered ceasefire entered into effect on November 27, but continued to target the group in other parts of Lebanon. It also continues to deploy troops at five strategic posts in the south of the country.
Hezbollah, which took heavy losses during the last confrontation with the IDF, has so far refrained from responding to Israel’s repeated strikes. The group will not likely change this policy any time soon, as it continues to face unprecedented internal and external pressure over its decision to join the fight against Israel in support of the Gaza Strip more than a year ago.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
