Israeli forces killed a senior Hezbollah commander in an attack in southern Lebanon on Tuesday night, raising fears of an escalation in the conflict on another Israeli front.
In response, Hezbollah fired one of its heaviest rockets yet into Israel on Wednesday, targeting military bases and weapons factories.
According to a senior Lebanese intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity, the commander, Taleb Abdallah, also known as Abu Taleb, was involved in the eight-month conflict. One of the most senior Lebanese Hezbollah fighters killed in the attack.
In an apparent nod to Mr Abdullah’s credentials, Hezbollah released a rare photo of Abdullah with Wissam Hassan al-Tawil. Hassan Tawil, a senior commander of the group’s Radwan forces, was killed in an attack in January.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it attacked the Hezbollah command and control center, killing Abdullah and three other Hezbollah fighters. Reports say Abdullah is one of Hezbollah’s top commanders in southern Lebanon.
Israel’s Army Radio said on Wednesday that about 150 rockets had been fired into northern Israel, in an apparent response to Hezbollah’s claimed attacks on a series of military bases.
Hezbollah, a powerful Lebanese militia and Iran-backed political movement, and Israel have shelled each other on both sides of the border for much of the past eight months, forcing more than 150,000 people on both sides to flee their homes. . But the intensity of attacks increased this month as top Israeli officials threatened further military action.
Israel has been targeting Hezbollah commanders with the aim of driving Hezbollah north of Lebanon’s Litani River, hoping to prevent cross-border attacks and eventually allow Israeli civilians displaced by the fighting to return home. Some experts are skeptical that targeted killings can achieve this goal.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened “very severe action” last week during a visit to northern Israel after Hezbollah rocket attacks sparked days of wildfires. “Restoring security in the north”.
In a sign of the intensifying conflict, Israel this week struck deeper into Lebanon than it has since the Gaza war began, targeting the country’s northeastern border with Syria.
“Whoever thinks he can hurt us and we will stand by and do nothing, he has made a big mistake,” Netanyahu said, according to the Israeli government.
In recent weeks, Hezbollah has begun targeting Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome missile defense system for the first time.
Hezbollah launched an attack on Israel on October 8 in response to Hamas’s call to open a second front a day after it launched a deadly attack on Israel. Attempts to trap Israeli forces along the border and limit Israeli military operations.
Hezbollah says more than 300 militants have been killed in the latest round of fighting with Israel. The United Nations said about 80 Lebanese civilians died. Israeli authorities said 19 security personnel and at least eight civilians were killed.
Euan Ward and Matthew M’Poke Biggar Contributed reporting.
