Israel fired on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon

The Israeli army (IDF) shelled the positions on Saturday evening the radical Islamic group Hezbollah in the south Lebanon, from where an anti-aircraft missile was fired at the Israeli drone. The missile was shot down and the drone was not damaged, said an Israeli military spokesman. It was another armed incident on the Israeli-Lebanese border.

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On Saturday, fire was exchanged in several places between the Israeli army and those supported by Iran Hezbollah, the AP reported, linking the escalation to Israel’s ongoing war against the Palestinian Hamas.

Tensions have been rising on Israel’s northern border since Palestinian Hamas militants attacked the southern part of the country on October 7. Lebanon-based and Iran-backed Hezbollah is hostile to Israel but has not yet joined the war against it, although it has engaged in limited-scale exchanges of fire.

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On Thursday, 20 rockets were fired from Lebanon towards Israel, and the IDF responded with artillery fire. As the British newspaper “Financial Times” emphasized, there are growing fears of an escalation of fighting on a new front.

As the New York Times and the Israeli television website i24 News reported on Friday, the administration USA was intended to prevent Israel from preemptively attacking Lebanon as part of the operation against Hamas. The supporter of such an attack was said to be Israeli Defense Minister Joaw Gallant.

On Thursday (October 19), Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said in an interview for CNN that Hezbollah members tried to enter Israel, but the services stopped this attempt.

“What Hezbollah is doing now is dragging Lebanon into a conflict in which it has no interest and from which it will certainly not benefit,” Conricus added in an interview.

On Sunday morning, Israeli air forces carried out a series of attacks on the southern part of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian media reported. According to these sources, in attacks on the city of Khan Yunis and located on the border with Egypt the city of Rafah, at least 11 Palestinians were killed. On Saturday evening, Israel announced its intention to intensify attacks on the Gaza Strip in preparation for the next stage of its war against Hamas.

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Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari once again appealed to residents of the northern part of Gaza to evacuate to the south of the Strip. – For your own safety, move south. We will continue to attack Gaza City and will intensify these attacks, Hagari said at a press briefing.

Asked about a possible land invasion of Gaza, Hagari said that Israeli troops are first trying to create optimal conditions for it.

Palestinian medical services reported that Israeli air forces attacked the Jenin Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Sunday morning. Two Palestinians were killed and several dozen were injured, it was reported. The attack was confirmed by the Israeli side.

As Reuters notes, this would be at least the second Israeli attack on a target in the West Bank in recent days. Palestinian sources claim that at least 84 Palestinians have been killed so far in clashes with the Israeli army. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, the attack occurred near the al-Ansar mosque in the camp, which is considered a “stronghold” of Palestinian fighters.