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| Militias in Lebanon Fire Rocket Barrage Into Israel | Militias in Lebanon Fire Rocket Barrage Into Israel |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Armed groups in Lebanon fired a heavy barrage of rockets toward Israel on Thursday, in an unusual and serious escalation that followed weeks of growing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia and political group that dominates southern Lebanon. | Armed groups in Lebanon fired a heavy barrage of rockets toward Israel on Thursday, in an unusual and serious escalation that followed weeks of growing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia and political group that dominates southern Lebanon. |
| Roughly 30 rockets were fired, five of which evaded Israeli air defense systems and landed in Israeli territory, according to a spokesman for the Israeli military. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said they would hold security assessments with senior military officials. | |
| An emergency medical group, Magen David Adom, said that several people inside Israel were hurt — including one person hit by shrapnel. A United Nations peacekeeping force that operates along the border, the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, said it was in touch with leaders in both countries and described the situation as “extremely serious.” | |
| Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the attack, and armed groups run by Palestinian exiles also operate in southern Lebanon. | |
| The attack came a day after an Israeli police raid on a mosque at a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem, which was met with widespread anger outside of Israel, particularly among Muslims. | The attack came a day after an Israeli police raid on a mosque at a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem, which was met with widespread anger outside of Israel, particularly among Muslims. |
| Israel fought a full-scale war with Hezbollah in 2006 and regularly strikes Hezbollah-linked targets in allied Syria, and occasionally in Lebanon. But confrontations on the Israeli-Lebanese border had been kept in relative check over the past decade. Armed groups have occasionally fired rockets into Israel in recent years, but only in much smaller bursts. | |
| Fears of a larger battle rose in recent weeks, however, after a man whom Israeli officials suspect was connected to Hezbollah crossed from Lebanon to Israel last month. The man planted a roadside bomb beside an Israeli highway before he was shot and killed by Israeli security officers. | Fears of a larger battle rose in recent weeks, however, after a man whom Israeli officials suspect was connected to Hezbollah crossed from Lebanon to Israel last month. The man planted a roadside bomb beside an Israeli highway before he was shot and killed by Israeli security officers. |
| Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, recently claimed that Israel was on the verge of collapse, referring to the domestic political crisis over a proposed judicial overhaul that has exacerbated longstanding divisions within Israeli society. | Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, recently claimed that Israel was on the verge of collapse, referring to the domestic political crisis over a proposed judicial overhaul that has exacerbated longstanding divisions within Israeli society. |
| “As we have always predicted, great Israel has fallen,” Mr. Nasrallah said in a speech last month. “There is no trust in the army, political leaders or military leaders.” | |
| The judicial crisis led Mr. Netanyahu to nominally fire Mr. Gallant after the defense minister called for a halt to the overhaul because of the anger it had caused within parts of the armed forces, endangering Israel’s military readiness. But Mr. Netanyahu never sent Mr. Gallant a letter officially confirming his dismissal, meaning that he remains in the post. | |
| The rockets from Lebanon compound a tense security situation for Israel. | The rockets from Lebanon compound a tense security situation for Israel. |
| Unrest and violence have also been at unusually high levels in the occupied West Bank. And there was a surge this week in rocket fire from Gaza following the Jerusalem mosque raid. | Unrest and violence have also been at unusually high levels in the occupied West Bank. And there was a surge this week in rocket fire from Gaza following the Jerusalem mosque raid. |
| Hiba Yazbek contributed reporting from Jerusalem and Hwaida Saad from Beirut, Lebanon. |