Amid the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah on Tuesday (August 6) launched a series of drone and rocket attacks into northern Israel, but warned that the killing of a top commander last week by Israel was yet to be avenged. The attack was pointed to two military sites near Acre in northern Israel and also an Israeli military vehicle in another location. The Israeli military said that several hostile drones were identified crossing from Lebanon and one was intercepted. According to the medical officials in the country, seven people were evacuated to hospital, to the south of the coastal city of Nahariya, one in critical condition.
The initial investigation by the Israeli military suggested that the injuries were caused by an interceptor that “missed the target and hit the ground, injuring several civilians”. It said that the incident was still under review.
What did Israeli military say?
In a statement, the Israeli military said sirens sounded around Acre, but that turned out to be a false alarm. It said its air force struck two Hezbollah facilities in south Lebanon.
Fears of an all-out war in the Middle East are rising by the day as Hezbollah had vowed to avenge Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr's killing. Iran, on the other hand, has also vowed to respond to the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on its soil in Tehran last week.
A Hezbollah source told Reuters that "the response to the assassination of commander Fuad Shukr has not come yet."
Earlier on Tuesday, four people were killed in a strike on a home in the Lebanese town of Mayfadoun, nearly 30 km (19 miles) north of the border, medics and a security source said. Two additional security sources said those killed were Hezbollah fighters, but the group had not yet posted its usual death notices.
Tensions in the Middle East
Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been trading fire for the last 10 months in parallel with the Gaza war, with the tit-for-tat strikes mostly limited to the border area.
Last week, Israel killed Shukr, Hezbollah's senior-most military commander, in a strike on the group's stronghold in the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital Beirut. Hezbollah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, vowed revenge, but said the response would be "studied." He is set to speak on Tuesday at the one-week memorial for Shukr.
(With Reuters inputs)
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