Hezbollah threatens Israeli ports with drone attacks and air strikes

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On Sunday, Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah exchanged mutual drone and air strikes after the Lebanese militia warned it was prepared to attack Israeli oil infrastructure.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a drone attack on Beit Hillel in northern Israel, while Israeli airstrikes hit Kafr Kila and Taybeh, two villages in southern Lebanon. Neither side reported casualties.

It is unclear whether the attacks were retaliatory or planned, but the latest violence came after Israeli strikes deep inside Lebanon and warnings from Israel that a larger war was imminent.

On Saturday, an airstrike targeted a vehicle in the Bekaa Valley in northern Lebanon. The Israelis claimed to have killed a Hamas commander in the attack.

Last week, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said his country was “very close to deciding to change the rules against Hezbollah and Lebanon. In a full-scale war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be hit hard.”

Mr Katz thus reiterated a long-standing Israeli policy that threatens to damage civilian infrastructure throughout Lebanon in the event of war.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah returned the threat on Friday, warning Israel: “Everything you see, we can see, and everything we can attack – we will spare nothing on this front.”

The group released a video on Saturday evening titled: To whom it May concernwhich showed satellite images of critical infrastructure in Israel, including energy storage at the ports of Haifa and Ashdod.

Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire since October 8, when the Lebanese armed group opened a so-called pressure front against Israel in support of Hamas following the Gaza war that broke out the day before.

However, analysts say the armed group’s daily airstrikes and rocket and drone attacks in Lebanon are small compared to what a full-scale conflict would mean.

So far, about 350 Hezbollah fighters and more than 90 Lebanese civilians have been killed in the conflict, while in Israel 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed.

In Lebanon’s last full-scale war in 2006, about 1,200 Lebanese were killed, including about 250 fighters. 44 Israeli civilians and 121 Israeli soldiers also lost their lives.

Amid fears of a wider war, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday: “One hasty step – one miscalculation – could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the borders and, frankly, beyond imagination.”

“To be clear: the people of the region and the people of the world cannot afford for Lebanon to become a second Gaza.”

Updated: June 23, 2024, 06:55