Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri yesterday called on Washington and Paris to intervene over the latest escalation after Hezbollah targeted an Israeli military vehicle near the southern border and responded by firing.
Hariri made two telephone calls to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Chancellor of the French President Emmanuel Bonn, calling on the United States, France and the international community to intervene in the face of the evolving situation on the southern border.
Earlier yesterday, Hezbollah announced the firing of shells at an Israeli base, and confirmed the killing of Israeli soldiers after targeting their vehicle, while Israeli forces responded by firing shells towards southern Lebanon.
"An Israeli military vehicle was destroyed on the road to the Avivim barracks, killing and wounding those in it," Hezbollah said in a statement.
The Israeli army announced that "a number of anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon, towards an Israeli military base and military vehicles," pointing out that its forces responded "fire on the source of the rockets and targets in southern Lebanon."
According to the official NNA news agency, Israeli forces targeted the outskirts of the town of Maroun al-Ras, which is located across from Avivim.
The Israeli army denied there were casualties in Hizbollah attacks from Lebanon.
"The current hostilities with Hezbollah appear to be over, but Israeli forces are still on alert," army spokesman Jonathan Conricus told reporters.
In a press conference, the Israeli Prime Minister said that Israel will determine the next movement on the border with Lebanon according to the development of events.
The Lebanese army announced that Israeli forces had fired more than "40 rocket-propelled grenades" into the south of the country in response to Hezbollah's targeting of an Israeli military vehicle.
The Lebanese Prime Minister telephoned Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri and put him in the atmosphere of Arab and international contacts, as well as received a call from Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, to consult on the latest developments on the southern border.
For its part, the Arab League announced its full solidarity with the Lebanese state in any attacks against it.
The escalation comes amid tensions between Lebanon and Israel, which began about a week ago, with Hezbollah and the Lebanese authorities accusing Israel of attacking two drones in the southern suburb of Beirut. The party said that they were loaded with explosive materials, one fell due to technical failure and the other exploded, without specifying the target of the attack.
The attack took place shortly after Israeli raids on Saturday night targeted the home of Hezbollah fighters near Damascus, killing two of them, Zabib and Dahir. Earlier, the Lebanese army said that an Israeli drone violated Lebanon's airspace yesterday, dropping incendiary materials that set fire to the Ahrash border area.
For its part, said the National Information Agency «a plane of an Israeli enemy» yesterday, violated Lebanese airspace from a farm Bastara, and threw incendiary materials on the woods of the oaks in the region, which led to a fire.
"The fire broke out in a Lebanese border area," the Israeli army said in a statement. "The fires started because of the operations of our forces in the area," he said, without giving details. Earlier yesterday, the Israeli army gave instructions to open shelters four kilometers from the border with Lebanon and canceled all activities in the border area with Lebanon. The Lebanese news agency reported on Sunday that the Israeli army fired more than 30 flare bombs over a section of the border between the two countries, and its military positions fired heavy bursts indiscriminately, in the latest episode of tension on the border.
- Hariri held phone calls to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Chancellor of French President Emmanuel Bonn, to intervene and stop the escalation in the south.