Israeli soldiers inspect a building that was hit by one of the missiles fired by Hezbollah at the settlement of Miryat Shmona (French)
The Israeli army said on Wednesday that the depths of Lebanon were turning into a war zone, after it expanded the scope of its strikes to include areas far from the border, while Hezbollah responded with intense missile strikes to an Israeli raid that killed 7 medics.
Haaretz newspaper quoted the Israeli army spokesman as saying that Hezbollah has begun to take risks, in reference to the attacks it is launching on the bases of military sites off the border.
The spokesman added that the army monitored the launching of 110 missiles from Lebanon at Israel during the past two days.
The Israeli military spokesman said that the conditions for an agreement with Hezbollah have not yet been met, adding that a prisoner exchange deal in Gaza may contribute to reaching an agreement with Lebanon as well.
He added that the Israeli army approved a training program this year that focuses on raising the Air Force’s readiness for war on the northern front.
In recent days, the Israeli army expanded its strikes to the Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon, targeting Baalbek and Hermel, and Hezbollah responded by striking vital Israeli military bases in the Galilee and the occupied Syrian Golan.
Israel has been threatening for some time a large-scale military operation against Hezbollah in an attempt to remove it from the border beyond the Litani River, and says that this can also be achieved through diplomacy.
#Al Jazeera correspondent monitors the effects of a missile attack carried out by Hezbollah on Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel, as a result of which one person was killed and a number of Israelis were injured #Gaza_War pic.twitter.com/jjycZwhlzv
- Al Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) March 27, 2024
Hezbollah responds
In field developments, Hezbollah announced that today it carried out 5 attacks on Israeli targets in the Galilee and the occupied Lebanese hills of Kfar Shuba.
The party said that its fighters bombed the Kiryat Shmona settlement and the headquarters of the 769th Brigade in the settlement barracks with dozens of missiles in response to what it described as the Israeli enemy’s massacre in the town of Habbariyeh in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese Civil Defense announced the killing of 7 paramedics from the Lebanese Ambulance Association in an Israeli raid that targeted an ambulance center for the Islamic Emergency and Relief Authority affiliated with the Islamic Group in Lebanon.
The bombardment of Kiryat Shmona with dozens of missiles resulted in the death of a factory worker and significant material damage, according to Israeli sources.
In addition to targeting this settlement, Hezbollah announced that its fighters killed and wounded members of an Israeli infantry force in Horsh Ramim, and also bombed a deployment of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Shtoula settlement and the Ruwaisat al-Alam site in the Kafr Shuba hills.
In this context, the Israeli army announced that its forces were on alert after spotting a Hezbollah drone in the Ras Naqoura area, off the border with Lebanon.
The confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel began in mid-October, and have so far resulted in the killing of at least 18 Israelis, including 11 soldiers, and more than 300 Lebanese civilians and fighters.
Source: Al Jazeera