Is the Israeli-Lebanese border, scene of episodic exchanges of fire since the start of the conflict, about to become a new front of major importance?
An Israeli soldier was killed Wednesday in a rocket attack from Lebanon on a military base in northern Israel, the Israeli army announced in a statement.
Sergeant Omer Sarah Benjo, 20, was killed “by (rocket) fire from Lebanese territory on a base in northern Israel,” said the army, which had earlier announced that combat planes had launched “a series of raids on Lebanon” in retaliation.
🚨 Released:
Staff Sergeant Omer Sarah Benjo z"l is the Soldier who fell earlier today as a result of the rocket fire from Lebanon.
May her memory be a blessing. pic.twitter.com/4GEPjsm9zU
— Yaari Cohen (@YaariCohen) February 14, 2024
Regular bombings
Since the day after the bloody Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, which sparked the war in the Gaza Strip, the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah has targeted Israeli military positions on the border in support of the Palestinian Islamist movement, its ally.
Israel, for its part, regularly bombs southern Lebanon and carries out targeted attacks against Hezbollah officials.
The army announced that it had targeted “Hezbollah terrorist targets” in the areas of Jabal el Braij, Houneh, Dunin, Adchit and Sawaneh.
Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Halevi, visiting the north of the country, said that “the next campaign will be a very strong offensive and we will use all our tools and capabilities,” according to an army statement. .
Also read: Israel-Hezbollah: a war on the Lebanese border ever closer?
Violence between the Israeli army and Hezbollah has caused the displacement of tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday that "when the aggression in Gaza stops and there is a ceasefire, the shooting will also stop in the south" of Lebanon.
“If they widen the confrontation, we will too,” said Hassan Nasrallah, in response to repeated threats from Israeli officials to start a war against Lebanon.
In more than four months, at least 243 people, including 175 Hezbollah fighters and 30 civilians, have been killed in southern Lebanon, according to an AFP count.
On the Israeli side, 15 people were killed, nine soldiers and six civilians, according to the army.