Fears of war between Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah grow after an Israeli attack in Lebanon kills a commander

Tel-Aviv – Fear of a possible all-out war between Israel and the militant group allied with Hamas Hezbollah in Lebanon was fueled on Thursday after a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Israel said the commander Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who was killed on Wednesday, was responsible for the rocket attacks on Israel. Hezbollah – a group that, like Hamas, is supported by Iran but is said to be larger and better armed – responded with another rocket attack.

Hezbollah has its attacks since Israel, which borders Lebanon to the north, War in the Gaza Strip in response to the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7. Hezbollah has declared that it will not stop firing rockets at Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel’s military said it intercepted drones and other missiles fired from southern Lebanon on Thursday, and some of the falling debris caused fires on the ground. The military reported no casualties but said it was responding to Hezbollah fire by “targeting launch sites in southern Lebanon.”

The escalating exchange of fire across the border has been deadly. The Lebanese Health Ministry reported at least 435 deaths on that side of the border by June 26. About 90 of those killed by Israeli shelling were civilians, according to Al Jazeera.

According to earlier information from Israeli authorities, at least 27 people, including ten civilians, have been killed in Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks since October.

The clashes also triggered an exodus that forced tens of thousands of people in both northern Israel and southern Lebanon to flee their homes across the border region.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a bloody war in 2006, and the US government has expressed concern about the prospect of a full-scale war that Iran’s proxy groups throughout the region to attack American forces in neighboring countries. This has happened several times since October, including a drone attack on an American base in Jordan, which three US soldiers killed in January.

The Biden administration is trying to prevent this, both through public diplomacy and behind closed doors.

Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that his country would prefer a diplomatic solution, but “if reality forces us to do so, we will know how to fight.”