It has been seven years since Israeli aircraft fire spared Lebanon.
The IDF, the Hebrew state army, claimed responsibility for its first airstrikes since 2014 on Cedar Country, claiming to have targeted rocket launch sites after fire from the south of the neighboring country to the north of Israel.
"Army fighter jets have targeted launch sites and terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon, from where rockets were fired," said Tsahal in a statement.
Did the planes target positions of Hezbollah, a pro-Iranian Lebanese movement very influential in southern Lebanon, or other armed groups?
The press release does not say so.
Two raids on the Mahmoudiya sector
The Israeli air force regularly bombs suspected Palestinian Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip and also carries out strikes in neighboring Syria, where it targets positions of pro-Iranian forces.
But its last known airstrikes in Lebanon were seven years ago, the IDF confirms.
These strikes are part of the exchange of fire at the border.
According to Lebanese Hezbollah's Al-Manar channel, two raids took place at around 12:40 a.m. (11:40 p.m. in France, Wednesday) in the Mahmoudiya sector, about ten kilometers from the border between the two countries.
The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, pro-Hezbollah, accused Israel of having crossed "a red line" with these strikes which constitute a "dangerous development".
They touched an uninhabited area, says the daily.
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This is "Israel's first use of its air forces to target Lebanese villages since 2006," Lebanese President Michel Aoun said in a statement on Thursday.
This "suggests an intention to intensify attacks" against Lebanon, he said.
The last Israeli airstrikes against Lebanese territory took place near the border with Syria in 2014, but they have not targeted Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon since the 2006 conflict between the Jewish state and the pro-Iran movement.
Four people in shock on the Israeli side
On Wednesday, three rockets were launched from southern Lebanon into northern Israel: two of them landed in Israeli territory and the third did not cross the border.
The shots were not claimed.
No injuries were reported but four people in shock were taken care of by Magen David Adom, the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross.
Shortly after the fire, the Israeli army launched three rounds of artillery strikes towards Lebanon.
Today could have been a normal day in Kiryat Shmona.
Families reunited,
children playing outside ...
... until they were forced to run to shelters when their town became the target of rockets from Lebanon.
We will be there to defend them.
- IDF (@Tsahal_IDF) August 4, 2021
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Wednesday called for a "strong message" to be sent to UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon deployed in the south of the country. Present in Lebanon since 1978, UNIFIL has been monitoring the Israeli border since 2006 in coordination with the Lebanese army and overseeing the application of UN Security Council resolution 1701, adopted after the war between Israel and Hezbollah .
On Thursday, the UN mission commander, General Stefano Del Col, held a tripartite meeting with military officials from the two countries in UNIFIL premises in Naqoura (southern Lebanon).
"In this period of regional instability, the coordination and liaison role of UNIFIL must more than ever be respected by all parties," he said, according to a statement.
Tensions after an oil tanker attack
Washington, for its part, condemned the shooting at Israel.
“We condemn the rocket attacks by armed groups based in Lebanon against Israel.
We argued that Israel has the right to defend itself, ”said US diplomacy spokesman Ned Price, who pledged to“ continue to monitor the situation ”and ensure“ defuse ”it.
The exchange of fire on the Lebanese-Israeli border coincides with an upsurge in tensions between the Hebrew state and Iran in the wake of a deadly attack on an oil tanker run by the company of an Israeli billionaire in the sea. Oman.
Israel, like the United States and the United Kingdom, was quick to accuse Iran of being behind the attack which killed two people and which has not been claimed.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett claimed to have "evidence" of Iranian involvement and promised a response.
Tehran for its part continues to deny these accusations.
