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Militias in Lebanon Fire Rocket Barrage Into Israel Militias in Lebanon Fire Rocket Barrage Into Israel
(about 3 hours 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 major escalation that the Israeli military blamed on militias run by Palestinian exiles in Lebanon.
At least 34 rockets were fired, of which 25 were intercepted by Israeli air-defense systems and five landed in Israeli territory, according to the Israeli military. The barrage was far heavier than any other in recent years, when armed groups have occasionally fired rockets from Lebanon into Israel, but only in much smaller bursts and usually away from towns and cities. The attack appeared to be in response to an Israeli police raid on a mosque early Wednesday at a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem. The raid, which came just before the Jewish holiday of Passover and in the middle of the holy fasting month of Ramadan for Muslims, prompted widespread anger among Palestinians and an earlier burst of rocket fire not from Lebanon but from the Gaza Strip.
Some of rockets fired Thursday landed in built-up areas, sending up large plumes of smoke. The reverberations and shrapnel shattered several windows. Military experts said the barrage on Thursday was the heaviest in northern Israel since 2006, when Israel and Hezbollah last fought a full-scale war. Israel did not retaliate immediately, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with senior ministers and military leaders in the early evening to discuss how to respond.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said they would hold security assessments with senior military officials, and the Israeli military denied Lebanese reports that Israel had responded with cross-border artillery fire. At least 34 rockets were fired in the attack, of which 25 were intercepted by Israeli air-defense systems and six landed in Israeli territory, according to the Israeli military.
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.” A spokesman for the Israeli military said it suspected that branches of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the two main militias in Gaza that also have a presence in Lebanon, were involved in the rocket fire from Lebanon. The Israeli military also said it believed that the militias had acted with the knowledge of Hezbollah, the militia and political movement that dominates southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the attack. Armed groups run by Palestinian exiles also operate in southern Lebanon with Hezbollah’s blessing, and Israeli officials said those groups were responsible for rocket fire from Lebanon in 2021. None of the groups — Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, all which are backed by Iran — has claimed responsibility for the barrage. A spokesman for Hamas declined to comment, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad did not reply to a request for comment, while a media outlet run by Hezbollah said the source of the rockets was unknown.
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 among Palestinians, and prompted rocket fire from Gaza. Hamas’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, visited Lebanon this week, adding to speculation about the group’s involvement in the rocket fire. After the attack Thursday, its spokesmen continued to condemn the Israeli raid on Wednesday on the Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount.
Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist armed group that dominates the Gaza Strip, said on Wednesday that its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had arrived in Lebanon. The attack from Lebanon compounded an already volatile security situation in the region. It came against a backdrop of rising tensions in Jerusalem, unusually high violence in the occupied West Bank, and divisions within the Israeli military over a contentious plan by the Israeli government to overhaul the country’s judiciary.
Israel fought a full-scale war with Hezbollah in 2006 and regularly strikes Hezbollah-linked targets in allied Syria, where Hezbollah forces participate in the Syrian war, and occasionally in Lebanon. But confrontations on the Israeli-Lebanese border had been kept in relative check over the past decade. It also followed weeks of escalation along the Israel-Lebanon border.
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. In an unusually brazen operation last month, a man who officials say was likely linked to Hezbollah crossed illegally from Lebanon to Israel before planting a roadside bomb beside an Israeli highway. The attack severely injured an Israeli citizen.
Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, recently said that he believed 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. The barrage on Thursday took Israelis by surprise. Since 2006, armed groups have occasionally fired rockets from Lebanon into Israel, but only in much smaller bursts and usually away from towns and cities.
Two of the rockets fired Thursday landed in built-up areas, sending up large plumes of smoke. The reverberations and shrapnel shattered several windows, and a rocket hit a warehouse. Several people inside Israel were injured, including one person hit by shrapnel, according to an emergency medical group, Magen David Adom.
A U.N. peacekeeping force that operates along the border, the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, described the situation as “extremely serious” and said it was in touch with authorities in both countries.
The Israeli military denied Lebanese reports that Israel had already responded with cross-border artillery fire.
Israel regularly strikes Hezbollah-linked targets in allied Syria, where Hezbollah forces participate in the Syrian war. But confrontations on the Israeli-Lebanese border had been kept in relative check over the past decade.
Fears of a larger battle grew in recent weeks after the roadside bombing.
Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, recently said that he believed Israel was on the verge of collapse, referring to the domestic political crisis over the 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.”“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 judicial crisis led Mr. Netanyahu to nominally fire his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, after the 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.
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.Hiba Yazbek contributed reporting from Jerusalem and Hwaida Saad from Beirut, Lebanon.