Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Israel trade cross-border attacks amid escalation

By Wassim Saifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) – Lebanese group Hezbollah exchanged cross-border attacks with the Israeli army on Tuesday amid growing tensions between the two sides.

Hezbollah said its fighters targeted buildings used by Israeli soldiers in the illegal settlement of Netu’a in northern Israel with appropriate weapons. It said the attack came in response to Israel's attacks on villages and civilian homes in southern Lebanon.

The group also claimed another drone strike on newly installed surveillance equipment near the Doviv military outpost, resulting in a direct hit.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported an Israeli attack with phosphorus shells in Marj, southeast of Mays al-Jabal in southern Lebanon, causing a fire in the area.

Artillery shelling was also reported in the Tel al-Nahhas area on the outskirts of Burj al-Mlouk and a drone strike in Majadel, east of Tyre, the broadcaster said.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said three people were injured in Majadel, and a fourth in an airstrike in the town of Chihine.

Since Oct. 8, Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been engaged in daily exchanges of fire along the Lebanese-Israeli border, resulting in hundreds of casualties, mostly on the Lebanese side.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of a brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which killed nearly 40,500 Palestinians since last Oct. 7 after a Hamas attack. The military campaign has reduced much of the territory to rubble and left most of the people homeless, hungry and prone to disease.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala