Beirut, Oct 8
The Hezbollah terror group on Sunday morning launched mortars at Israeli military sites on the Lebanon border, as fighting continued in southern Israel in the wake of a major attack launched by the Palestinian Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported.
Hezbollah claimed to have fired dozens of rockets and shells at three Israeli positions in the contested Mount Dov region in solidarity with the Hamas attack, Times of Israel reported.
The Lebanese group said in a statement that the attack, using “large numbers of rockets and shells,†was in solidarity with the “Palestinian resistance.†It claimed the Israeli positions were directly hit, Times of Israel reported.
Footage posted to social media showed the moment one of the mortars hit an Israeli military site on the border.
The Israel Defense Forces did not report any injuries, and said it responded with artillery fire toward the area of the launches and a drone strike against “Hezbollah infrastructure†in the area.
According to a military source, the site targeted in the drone strike was a tent the terror group set up in Israeli territory months ago. There were no immediate reports of Lebanese casualties.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said it was in contact with both sides “to contain the situation and avoid a more serious escalation.â€
Hezbollah has largely sat out previous rounds of fighting between Israel and Palestinian terror groups, though it allowed local Palestinian factions to operate out of its territory in southern Lebanon, Times of Israel reported.
Tensions have remained high with Hezbollah in recent months, with the deployment of dozens of Hezbollah posts along the Lebanese border, including the tent, and increasing patrols and presence by terror group operatives in the area.
Other recent incidents on the Lebanese border have included camouflaged Hezbollah members walking along the border in violation of a UN resolution, and Hezbollah activists crossing the Blue Line (though not the Israeli border fence) on numerous occasions, including attempts to damage the border fence and army surveillance equipment.
The exchange of fire on the northern border came as Israel was fighting the Hamas terror group on the southern frontier.
The Gaza-based terror group launched an unprecedented assault on Israel on Saturday morning, firing thousands of rockets and sending hundreds of gunmen into Israeli communities by land, sea and air, killing some 300 people and injuring over 1,500, Times of Israel reported.
