Gunfire at Lebanon-Israel border raises fear of escalation

AFP, published on Sunday 01 September 2019 at 17h18

Northern Israel was targeted on Sunday by Hezbollah anti-tank missile fire, which resulted in an Israeli army response to southern Lebanon, raising fears of an escalation between the Jewish state and the Lebanese Shiite movement.

"Anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon to a base and military vehicles, and targets were hit," the Israeli army said in a statement.

The Lebanese Hezbollah, which had promised a response to a drone attack attributed to Israel just a week ago, said it had "destroyed" an Israeli army "military vehicle" in the Avivim area of the northern part of the Jewish state, according to its TV channel Al-Manar. The Shiite movement mentioned "dead and wounded", but did not provide any details.

The Israeli army did not report casualties or provide more details on anti-tank fire, but asked the population living within 4 kilometers of the Lebanese border to stay at home and open shelters. bomb-.

The Israeli military has also blocked access to the border to journalists wishing to approach.

The Israeli army has mainly launched a response with "fire at the source of Hezbollah" in southern Lebanon, according to a statement from the army.

According to the Lebanese national agency ANI, "the outskirts of the town of Maroun al-Ras, in the area of ​​Bint Jbeil, are the target of sporadic bombardment by the Israeli enemy".

This Lebanese locality is right in front of the Israeli village of Avivim (north), target of anti-tank missile fire according to the Israeli army.

The Hezbollah Al-Manar range showed images of Maroun al-Ras, with columns of white smoke rising above a landscape dotted with fields and hamlets.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri immediately spoke by telephone with US Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo and an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron to demand "the intervention of the United States, France and the international community facing developments "at the border.

UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon on the border with Israel, called Sunday "the greatest restraint".

– Drones, missiles, threats –

The exchange of fire came amid mounting tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which last week accused the Jewish state of conducting drone strikes in its bastion of the southern suburbs of Beirut.

This "attack" was presented by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as Israel's "first act of aggression" in Lebanon since the devastating 2006 war between the Jewish state and the armed Shiite movement in 33 days 1,200 dead on the Lebanese side and 160 on the Israeli side.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun had for his part evoked a "declaration of war".

At the same time, a Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem, however, assured that "the atmosphere" was "not war" but rather a "riposte to aggression".

For its part, Israel had "unveiled" a plan for Iran, via its ally Hezbollah Lebanese, to turn rockets into precision missiles that can hit Israel. The Hebrew State had said that Lebanon was "responsible" for Hezbollah operating on its territory.

According to the Israeli army, between 2013 and 2015, Iran tried to transport missiles from its soil to Lebanon via Syria. But "Israeli operations" slowed the project and Tehran changed its approach in 2016 to not carry missiles, but to "convert" rockets into high-precision missiles.

"We are determined to prevent our enemies from possessing weapons of destruction (…) and I say to them: + dir balak + (Take care, in Arabic)", recently declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, currently campaigning for the legislative elections of September 17, which promise to be fiercely contested.

Its main rival, former army chief Benny Gantz, went on Twitter Saturday night by calling on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to "pity" Lebanon. "Do not push IDF (IDF) to bring him back to the Stone Age," he wrote.