The Israeli military has carried out strikes targeting various locations in southern and eastern Lebanon, leaving a total of six people dead and around 30 others injured, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
The strikes, taking place on Saturday afternoon and evening, hit the southern city of Tyre where different locations were targeted. One was killed and seven others were wounded as a result, Al-Mayadeen news network said, citing the health ministry.
Six people also lost their lives and eleven others were wounded in Israeli airstrikes on Tullin, another town in southern Lebanon.
The Bekaa Valley was targeted in Israeli airstrikes as well, which left ten people injured Al-Mayadeen said.
Media reports cited witnesses as saying that the strikes were “violent and widespread.”
In a statement, the Israeli army said it responded to rocket fire from Lebanon which prompted sirens in the northern parts of the occupied territories.
According to the Israeli media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his forces to take “robust action” against Hezbollah targets, saying “Israel will not allow any harm’ to its people.”
No claim of responsibility
The Lebanese military did not tell who was behind the alleged rocket fire into Israel, but said it had found and dismantled “three primitive rocket launchers” during investigations following the incident.
Hezbollah has also denied any connection with the incident.
UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon warned that the escalation could have serious consequences for the region, calling on all sides to “uphold their commitments."
“We strongly urge all parties to avoid jeopardizing the progress made, especially when civilian lives and the fragile stability observed in recent months are at risk,” it said in a statement.
However, Israel Katz, Israel’s minister in charge of military affairs was found fueling the flame by putting the blame of attacks on the Lebanese government and vowing to retaliate.
The UN’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said it was “alarmed” by the Saturday morning escalation in violence, calling on
Aoun condemns attempt to return violence to Lebanon
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, however, has instructed the army to protect the country’s citizens and warned against any escalation in response to the Israeli regime's claims about the firing of rockets from the country's soil.
“We condemn any attempt to drag Lebanon once again into a cycle of violence,” Aoun was quoted by Al-Mayadeen news network on Saturday.
“What happened in the south and what has been going on since February 18 is a continuous aggression against Lebanon,” he indirectly referred to the Israeli violations of the ceasefire.
He asked “the relevant forces in the south, especially the Supervisory Committee and the army” to follow up on these events seriously and prevent any consequences.
Israel and Hezbollah exchanged cross-border attacks for 13 months in the wake of the regime’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
Despite a ceasefire struck in November last year, Israel has kept violating the truce and continued to maintain a military presence at five locations in the south of Lebanon in breach of the deal.
Escalation in the north comes after Israel restarted military operations in Gaza earlier in the week, putting an end to a fragile truce that had largely held since January.
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