- Hezbollah missile response
- EU warns against escalation
- Tensions rise in the region
The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has stated that a barrage of 62 missiles it launched was intended to target a vital Israeli military post as a “preliminary response” to this week’s killing of a Hamas leader in Beirut.
On Saturday in Beirut, the foreign policy chief of the European Union met with the prime minister of Lebanon, where he cautioned against Lebanon becoming entangled in a regional conflict as a result of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
“The Islamic resistance [Hezbollah] targeted the Meron air control base with 62 different types of missiles as an initial response to the crime of assassinating the great leader Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri,” the Iran-aligned organization said in a statement on Saturday regarding the attacks in northern Israel.
The Israeli military previously reported that approximately forty missiles targeted the Meron air surveillance base; in retaliation, it launched an assault on a “terrorist cell” implicated in the launches. Immediate reports did not indicate any casualties or damage.
Jama’a Islamiya, a Lebanese militant organization, issued a statement later on Saturday confirming that it had launched two volleys of missiles at Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel.
Hezbollah and the Israeli army continued to exchange fire along the border, with one Israeli attack penetrating deeply into Lebanese territory and striking a home approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, also warned on Friday that failure to respond to the assassination of Hamas deputy chief al-Arouri would expose the entirety of Lebanon and that “absolutely no reaction and punishment would follow.”
The Israelis allegedly murdered Al-Arouri on Tuesday in a stronghold of Hezbollah. “No ceilings” and “no rules” would govern his group’s combat if Israel decided to invade Lebanon; Nasrallah has warned Israel against escalating the conflict.
EU’s Warning on Regional Escalation
On Saturday, Josep Borrell, the head of foreign policy for the European Union, stated that preventing a regional escalation in the Middle East was “critical.”
“A regional conflict is something that Lebanon must avoid at all costs,” he added, also cautioning Israel that “no one will emerge victorious.”
“There is a concerning escalation in the intensity of gunfire across the Blue Line,” he further stated, alluding to the United Nations-mapped demarcation line that separates the two nations and signifies the point at which Israeli forces vacated south Lebanon in 2000.
Any large-scale bombardment in southern Lebanon, according to Prime Minister Najib Mikati of Lebanon, would cause a “comprehensive explosion” in the region.
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Reporting from Beirut stated that Hezbollah’s attack on Saturday was to be anticipated in light of Nasrallah’s statements regarding the death of al-Arouri. Khan continued the conflict.
“The Israelis would have anticipated a response.” “They would have maintained high alert,” he stated.
Amidst the ongoing cross-border combat, Hezbollah had a “very political calculation” to make in Lebanon, according to Khan.
Challenges Amidst Regional Tensions
“It opposes Lebanon enduring the negative consequences of a full-scale war.” But the discourse is quite challenging. It states Israel will respond in kind if it wishes to escalate the situation, he continued.
Since the Palestinian conflict began in October of last year, Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in near-daily exchanges of gunfire. The violence has been confined to the border region for the most part.
Airstrikes and uncrewed aerial vehicles are applying tremendous pressure on Hezbollah positions in the south by Israel.
“That is intriguing because increasing pressure on Hezbollah could result in a misfire or a miscalculated attack from either side, which could cause the situation to escalate.”
Amid escalating regional tensions and with no end in sight to Israel’s war on Gaza, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making his fourth trip to the Middle East in the past three months.
