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Israeli soldiers fire a mobile howitzer near the border with Lebanon in January
Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
Israel's army says it has attacked Shiite militia positions in the border conflict with the Lebanese Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said on Monday evening that the air force had attacked two positions of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah in the Bekaa Valley in northeast Lebanon, confirming Lebanese reports.
It was only the second time since the beginning of the war against the Islamist Hamas, which is allied with Hezbollah, in the Gaza Strip a good five months ago that Israel's military had attacked the area, located about 100 kilometers north of the country's border, the Israeli news site "Ynet" reported in the evening.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war after the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7th, mutual attacks have occurred almost daily, concentrated in the border region.
Israel wants to ensure that Hezbollah retreats behind the Litani River, 30 kilometers from the border - as stipulated in a UN resolution from 2006.
The attacks on Hezbollah air force locations in northeast Lebanon were in retaliation for their recent air strikes that targeted the Golan Heights, Israel's military said.
According to Lebanese security sources, there were casualties in the Israeli attacks.
Neither the Israeli nor the Lebanese information could be independently verified.
Hezbollah, which is classified as a terrorist organization by Germany and many other countries, primarily controls the south on the border with Israel, Shiite-inhabited districts of the capital Beirut and the Bekaa Valley.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant recently announced that he would increase military pressure on Hezbollah until it withdraws from the border in response to its daily attacks on Israel.
According to Lebanese sources, there will be indirect talks about a diplomatic solution during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which began on Monday.
czl/dpa