The Lebanon-based Shiite militant group Hezbollah said on Monday that it would “respond” to Israeli strikes targeting its facilities amid a recent escalation, local media outlets have reported. The militants also confirmed the death of at least one of their fighters in the attacks.
The group told Lebanon’s al-Jadeed TV that it would respond to the shelling of the Ayt al-Shaab area in the south of the country “in accordance with the rules of deterrence that it has imposed,” without clarifying what exact measures it planned to take.
Several local news outlets have reported that Israel is continuing to strike southern Lebanon, adding that two Hezbollah fighters might have been killed in the attacks. According to the Israeli media, a number of rockets were fired from Lebanon at Israel on Monday evening, but they resulted in no injuries. West Jerusalem has confirmed what it called a fire exchange at the border with Lebanon and issued restrictions to the residents of towns in northern Israel, the local media reported.
Businesses in the area can only remain open if they have immediate access to bomb shelters and gatherings are restricted to 30 people outdoors and 300 people indoors, the Israeli military’s Home Front Command said, adding that public beaches are closed altogether. The measures are to stay in place until Tuesday evening, the media reported, adding that they are likely to be extended.
The Hezbollah statement comes amid the biggest conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group controlling the Gaza Strip in recent years. Over the weekend, Hamas launched a massive attack on Israel, breaching the border and briefly overrunning nearby Israeli settlements. It has also launched thousands of rockets at Israel over the past few days.
According to Israeli officials, the death toll linked to the Hamas attacks has reached at least 900. Israel responded by launching massive air strikes at the Gaza Strip and announcing a “complete siege” of the area.
Washington had earlier issued a warning to Hezbollah, urging the group to refrain from interfering in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken specifically mentioned the Lebanon-based group in a talk with CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.
The Lebanon-based Shiite militant group Hezbollah has confirmed the death of at least one of their fighters in the Israeli strikes targeting its facilities amid a recent escalation. The group told Lebanon’s al-Jadeed TV that it would respond to the shelling of the Ayt al-Shaab area in the south of the country “in accordance with the rules of deterrence that it has imposed,” without clarifying what exact measures it planned to take.
Hezbollah strikes back after Israel kills ‘number of armed suspects’ who infiltrated from Lebanon
Three Hezbollah members were killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon Monday, the Iran-backed group said, as tensions surged after Palestinian militants tried to infiltrate into Israel from Lebanon.
Israel’s army said its soldiers had “killed a number of armed suspects” who had crossed the frontier from Lebanon and that its helicopters were striking the area.
The escalation on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon comes two days after Hamas militants launched a massive attack on Israel’s southern flank from the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah issued three separate statements confirming the death of its members, all of them “martyred as a result of the Zionist aggression on south Lebanon Monday afternoon,” the group said.
A Hezbollah source had earlier told AFP a member was killed “in an Israeli strike on a watchtower in south Lebanon” near Aita Al-Shaab village, with a spokesperson for the group confirming the death.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group’s armed wing, which claims to be fighting Israel alongside Hamas, said earlier it was behind a thwarted bid to infiltrate Israel from Lebanon.
“The Al-Quds Brigades claim responsibility for the afternoon operation on the south Lebanon border,” the group said in a statement.
The mayor of the Lebanese border village of Dhayra said Israel was shelling the area.
“Fields on the outskirts of the village were subjected to intense Israeli artillery shelling, preceded by intermittent gunfire,” the mayor, Abdullah Al-Gharib, told AFP.
Hezbollah, whose arch-foe is Israel, had earlier denied any involvement in the border clashes.
An AFP photographer at the scene said he saw dozens of Lebanese and Syrian families fleeing as the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab village came under heavy bombardment. The Lebanese army in a statement said the periphery of “Dhayra, Aita Al-Shaab and other border areas were subjected to air and artillery bombardment by the Israeli enemy.”
It urged citizens “to take the utmost caution” and avoid border areas. Andrea Tenenti, the spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which acts as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel, said UNIFIL commander Aroldo Lazaro was “in contact with the involved parties.”
He said Lazaro had urged them to exercise “maximum restraint” to prevent “further escalation and loss of life.” Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Israel had expanded bombardment on the same border area with “enemy warplanes intensifying their flights and launching incendiary bombs.”
The clash comes a day after Hezbollah said it had fired artillery shells and guided missiles at Israel, “in solidarity” with attacks launched from Gaza by its ally Hamas.
Israel’s army said it hit back on Sunday with artillery into southern Lebanon. In 2006 Hezbollah and Israel fought a 34-day war that left more than 1,200 dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers. The two countries remain technically at war.
Israel has warned Hezbollah against involvement in the war with Gaza. At least 800 people in Israel and 560 in Gaza have been killed since the conflict erupted on Saturday, according to tolls from officials on both sides.
Hamas ready to discuss ceasefire but not hostages, Israel promises war
The radical Palestinian movement Hamas has announced its readiness to discuss a ceasefire with Israel, but has no intention of negotiating the fate of hostages while hostilities continue. It said the hostages included "dozens of people with dual citizenship".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an address to the nation, compared Hamas members with Islamic State (IS or ISIS, an organization banned in Russia) terrorists and vowed to defeat them "just like the enlightened world defeated ISIS."
TASS has gathered the main information about the conflict so far.
What conflicting sides say
Hamas representatives are "open to discussing a ceasefire with Israel," the movement said in a statement quoted by Al Hadath TV. At the same time, Hamas said it would not "negotiate prisoners under fire."
In an address to the nation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared Hamas to the Islamic State, insisting: "This enemy wanted war and this this is what they will get." Earlier, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Hayat said his country would not hold negotiations with Hamas and considered them impossible because of the declared state of war.
Combat operations
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are completing the clearing of areas along the border with the Gaza Strip, Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said.
Casualties, fate of hostages
Since the beginning of the conflict, according to the latest official data, more than 700 Palestinians have died (mainly in the Gaza Strip, which was subjected to Israeli bombardment), and more than 3,700 have been injured.
The Israeli side reported about 800 dead and more than 2,700 wounded. Washington said that at least 11 American citizens were among the dead.
The Russian Embassy in Israel confirmed the death of a Russian citizen on Monday evening. Earlier, diplomats reported four missing, citing lists provided by the Israeli side.
According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Hamas militants have taken more than 100 people hostage. The movement threatened to execute captured Israelis in case of attacks on homes and civilian objects in the Gaza Strip.
Situation at Israel-Lebanon border
The Israeli side reported shelling from Lebanon and the elimination of several people with weapons who infiltrated into Israel. The military said that it hit three roadblocks of the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah formation.
Responsibility for the attack on the Lebanese-Israeli border was claimed by members of Al-Quds Brigades (the Jerusalem Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad group, which also operates in the Gaza Strip). The attack on Israeli positions was later claimed by Hezbollah.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry, commenting on the situation on the border with Lebanon, said that the neighboring country and Hezbollah should not "test the patience" of the country.
International reaction
The Russian Foreign Ministry advised Russians to refrain from visiting Israel and Palestine. The ministry pointed out that Russian airlines have been instructed to return and exchange tickets without penalty.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov received Palestinian Ambassador Abdel Hafiz Nofal on Monday. According to the ambassador, preparations are underway for a visit to Moscow by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that he was concerned by Israel's intention to impose a complete blockade on Gaza and called for international law to be respected in the conduct of military operations. He said that peace in the Middle East is only possible through negotiations and a "two-state solution."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in an address to the nation, said that he was willing to mediate. He said that he had held telephone conversations with the leaders of several countries, including Abbas and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Erdogan also criticized Israeli policy toward Palestine and called for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
Situation in Israel
Netanyahu called on opposition leaders to form a national unity government "without preconditions" as they did "before the Six-Day War" in 1967.
Israeli authorities advised residents to stock up on water, food and medical supplies, saying they would need to spend up to three days in bomb shelters.
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