The United States and the European Union strongly condemned the firing of rockets from southern Lebanon towards northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights, at a time when Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said that the bombing of Shebaa Farms aims to establish the rules of engagement with Israel.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that his country condemns in the strongest terms Hezbollah's missile attacks on Israel.

"This violence endangers the citizens of both countries, and threatens Lebanon's stability and sovereignty," Price added, in a statement.

He added that the United States continues its contacts with Israeli and Lebanese officials, as well as with the Lebanese Armed Forces, without further details.

Price called on the Lebanese government urgently to prevent the recurrence of such attacks, and to tighten its control over the region, and urged it to facilitate full access to the UN peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL).

For its part, the European Union said that it is closely following the developments of the past days, including the Israeli response through artillery and air strikes.

In a statement, the union stressed the need for all parties to exercise maximum restraint, and to work for a quick solution to the current tensions.

He demanded respect for relevant Security Council resolutions, such as Resolutions 1559 and 1701.


The European Union reiterated its full support for the efforts of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, and the importance of this country disassociating itself from all regional conflicts.

On August 4, rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards Israel, without any party claiming responsibility for the operation, while the Israeli army responded by bombing multiple areas in southern Lebanon.

On Friday, rockets were fired again from Lebanon towards Israel, and Hezbollah claimed responsibility in a statement for the operation.

In response to the rocket fire, the Israeli army on Friday bombed the Kafr Shuba Hills and Habariya border areas in southern Lebanon.

dangerous development

In his first comment on these developments, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah said that Israel's bombing of southern Lebanon two days ago is very dangerous and has not happened for 15 years, warning that any Israeli air raid will be responded to appropriately.

On the recent escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, Nasrallah said that the Israeli Air Force launched 3 raids after artillery shelling.

In a televised speech on Saturday evening, Nasrallah said, "Whatever the internal situation in Lebanon is, we will protect our people and our country, and we must not bet on the Lebanese division."

"I tell the enemy, do not bet on the environment surrounding the resistance, as it is supportive and loyal at all times," he added.

Install the rules of engagement

Nasrallah stressed that "the aim of the operation yesterday is to establish the rules of engagement to protect our country, but we do not want to create a new equation," adding, "You bombed open land, so we bombed open land."

Hezbollah had announced that it had bombed the vicinity of Israeli sites in the occupied Shebaa Farms with dozens of missiles, stressing that its bombing came in response to the Israeli air raids that targeted open areas in the south of the country at dawn on Thursday.

In this regard, Nasrallah said, "We are officially responsible for responding to the Israeli raids on Lebanon."


He added that the resistance chose Shebaa Farms to respond because they are military areas where there are no civilians, noting that the bombing during the day was deliberate.

The Secretary-General of Hezbollah said, "The Israeli assessment of the balance of deterrence created by the resistance will be undermined through the raids," stressing that "the July 2006 war created a balance of deterrence with the Israeli enemy."

Nasrallah stressed that Israel had not launched raids on Lebanon for 15 years because of its fear of the repercussions of the war with the resistance.