Israel and Hezbollah trade fire after the most powerful airstrikes yet By Reuters
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – UN troops in Lebanon called for an immediate drawdown as hostilities escalated on the Lebanon-Israel border on Friday, following Israel's heaviest airstrikes in a year of conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Israel's military said Thursday it shot down hundreds of Hezbollah rockets fired into Israel, in what security sources in Lebanon said was the heaviest attack since the war began last October.
Burned by the war in Gaza, the conflict has intensified this week, as Hezbollah came under an unprecedented attack when pagers and walkie talkies used by its members exploded, killing 37 people and injuring thousands.
The UNIFIL peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said on Friday morning that the past 12 hours had seen a “significant intensification of conflicts” on the Lebanon-Israel border and in the area of operations.
“We are concerned about the escalation of the Blue Line and we urge all actors to come down immediately,” UNIFIL spokeswoman Andrea Tenenti told Reuters, referring to the line dividing the border between Lebanon and Israel.
Israeli airstrikes on Friday hit at least three villages in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese security sources and Hezbollah's al-Manar television, which broadcast images of a cloud of smoke rising from one of the strikes.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Hezbollah said its forces fired a missile at Israeli soldiers in Metula, an Israeli border town targeted by the Lebanese group last year.
Israeli radio reported that residents of several towns in northern Israel were ordered by the army's Homefront Command to stay close to their shelters.
Earlier, the army lifted the orders prohibiting movement and large gatherings that it had issued on Thursday night in many communities in the north and Golan Heights. These restrictions were ordered following the start of the strikes.
Security sources in Lebanon said that four people were injured during the bombing in Israel on Thursday. It is not clear if they are members of Hezbollah.
The year-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is the worst since they went to war in 2006. Tens of thousands have had to leave their homes on both sides of the border.
Although the conflict has mostly played out in or near the border areas, this week's escalation has raised concerns that it could expand and intensify.
The United States on Thursday warned all groups in the Middle East about the spread of the virus, saying that Washington's priority is to find a diplomatic solution.
“We will continue to stand up for Israel's right to defend itself, but we don't want to see any party escalate this conflict,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told a news conference.
More than 460 Hezbollah fighters have been killed since the most recent war with Israel began nearly a year ago, in addition to about 170 civilians, according to Lebanese sources.
In Israel, at least 52 people have been killed – half of them soldiers and half of them civilians – according to the Israel Institute for National Security Studies.
THE SECURITY COUNCIL WILL MEET
The 15-member United Nations Security Council is expected to meet on Friday regarding the blast.
In a televised speech on Thursday, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the blasts on Tuesday and Wednesday “crossed all red lines” and vowed to punish Israel.
Israel has not commented directly on the pager and radio detonations, which security sources say may have been carried out by the Mossad spy agency.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday night that Israel will continue to fight Hezbollah.
Israel said its goal is to ensure that Israelis return safely to northern Israel.
Hezbollah, which is affiliated with the Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas, says its attack in northern Israel is aimed at supporting Palestinians under Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip.
Nasrallah said on Thursday that the war in Lebanon will not stop “before the violence in Gaza is stopped”.
