Tensions on the Lebanese-Israeli border are mounting.
After the Israeli armed forces responded to the rocket fire from Lebanon on Wednesday with artillery fire and air strikes, the Lebanese Shiite militia Hilzbullah, supported by Iran, fired more rockets on Israel on Friday.
It was retaliation for the recent air strikes, the group said.
Israel responded again with artillery fire.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced that he would consult with leading swearing-in officials and the military.
Christoph Ehrhardt
Correspondent for the Arab countries based in Beirut.
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The Israeli air strikes on Thursday night already meant an escalation.
According to Israeli data, these were the first air strikes since 2014. Radical Palestinian groups had been linked to Wednesday's rocket attack.
Diplomats said, however, that this was done “at least” with the approval of Hezbollah, who controls the border area.
Unifil commander warns
According to the UN peacekeeping force Unifil, the incident occurred on Friday in the area of the controversial Shebaa farms. The UN troops spoke of a "very dangerous situation". One works to prevent "the situation from getting out of hand". Unifil commander General Stefano Del Col said his force was coordinating with the Lebanese army to strengthen security measures in the region and called on the parties to the conflict to stop the fire immediately.
Unifil is in a difficult position. She is confronted with Israeli criticism that she is toothless and unable to take effective action against the activities of Hezbollah in the border area. For its part, the Shiite militia repeatedly shows the UN troops the limits of their possibilities. This is illustrated by a dispute a few months ago: Unifil had installed cameras to better monitor the demarcation line. However, Hezbollah forced them to be dismantled in at least one case.
Tensions on the border have been a source of concern for years.
Israel and Hezbollah are playing a dangerous game of deterrence.
Israeli fighter-bombers remind the Lebanese again and again of the military superiority of Israel when they fly low.
Israeli drones regularly circle over the border area or over the southern suburbs of Beirut, which, like the south of Lebanon, are ruled by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, for its part, sends drones across the border, repeatedly expressing extermination fantasies and never tire of pointing out the destructive power of its own rocket arsenal.
Druze are angry with Hezbollah
Every incident at the border carries the risk of escalating into a war, which, in the opinion of the military and diplomats, neither side actually wants. The political framework is currently particularly delicate. Lebanon is in an unprecedented economic crisis that has destabilized the country and also increased internal pressure on Hezbollah. Their missile attack also created tension with local residents outside of their Shiite supporters.
Videos circulated on the internet showed two vehicles, including a mobile rocket launcher, being stopped. Villagers belonging to the Druze population were heard angrily that Hezbollah was firing rockets “between the houses so that Israel might strike back against us.” The Shiite militia itself, however, later issued a statement saying the rockets were in remote locations Areas have been fired.
For the new Israeli government under Naftali Bennett, it is the first confrontation of this kind. In addition, tensions between Israel and the Hezbollah protective power, Iran, have increased. Israel and the United States accuse the Tehran regime of being behind a drone attack on a cargo ship operated by a London-based company owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz recently did not rule out a direct attack on Iran.