Hezbollah fires over 200 missiles at Israel in retaliation
The possibility of a “full-fledged conflict” seems evermore possible according to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, as over 200 missiles have been fired at several military bases in Israel by the Lebanese-based militant group Hezbollah on July 4th, Asharq Al-Awsat and agencies reported.
The rockets come in retaliation for the Israeli military strike which killed Mohammad Naameh Nasser on July 3rd.
Nasser was a senior commander who headed one of Hezbollah’s three regional divisions in the south of Lebanon. The Israeli military stated that Nasser controlled Hezbollah’s “antitank and rocket fire” capabilities in the region and is now the third high-ranking official in the group to be killed in the last nine months, reported Al Jazeera.
The missile attack appears to be one of the largest launched by the Iran-backed group since the conflict started along the Lebanon-Israel border in October.
The Israeli military confirmed that “numerous projectiles and suspicious aerial targets” entered from Lebanon and were intercepted by Iron Dome missiles. The Associated Press stated that there were no reports of casualties yet.
READ: Official says Israel is “not prepared” for war with Hezbollah
Hezbollah launched dozens of Katyusha rockets and Falaq rockets with heavy warheads hours after Nasser was killed. The missiles landed in northern Israel and the occupied Golan heights. Exploding drones and further missiles were launched at numerous bases on July 4th.
Western powers such as the U.S. and France are desperate to halt the escalation of an all-out war that would have significant consequences across the Middle East.
Hezbollah’s response to Israeli strikes comes a day after Amos Hochstein, a senior advisor to U.S. President Joe Biden, and Jean-Yves Le Drian, French President Emmanual Macron’s Lebanon envoy, met in Paris to discuss the spiraling situation.
READ: Lebanon: Fears of war attracting thousands to Hezbollah’s fight
Hashem Saffiedine, a senior Hezbollah official, vowed further retaliatory attacks on new locations in Israel, reported the New Arab. Safieddine announced that the militant group would hit sites that “the enemy did not imagine would be hit” at Nasser’s funeral.
Hezbollah states that it is striking Israel in solidarity with Hamas, which is being targeted in an offensive by the IDF into Gaza since the October 7th attacks. The Shiite militant group is estimated by Israeli authorities to have 150,000 rockets, including precision-guided missiles, making Hezbollah the most direct threat to Israel in the region.
Asharq Al-Awsat / The New Arab and agencies
