Israel strikes south of Lebanon, triggering fear of “new war”
- 22 March, 13:44
Israeli air raid struck coastal city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing seven and jeopardizing the volatile cease-fire agreement that ended the conflict with Hezbollah. A child was among the attack that killed seven and injured forty others, Lebanese health ministry reported.
The Israel Defense Forces, IDF confirmed that the attack was in response to cross border rocket attack earlier, saying five projectiles had been fired from within Lebanon, three of which were intercepted by the Israeli air force. The IDF stressed the air raids targeted “Hezbollah command centers, infrastructure sites, terrorists, rocket launchers, and a weapons storage facility.” Earlier on Saturday Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said his country was at risk of pulled into a “new war” amid Israel’s fresh air raids and warned “renewed military operations on the southern border” would bring “woes to Lebanon and the Lebanese people”.
In a statement on Saturday afternoon, Hezbollah denied any involvement with earlier rocket fire at Israel, saying it was committed to the truce and accused Israel of using the rocket fire as a “pretext” to attack Lebanon. "Hezbollah denies any involvement in the rocket fire from southern Lebanon into the occupied Palestinian territories," the group said.
Israel’s deadly strike on Saturday was the first escalation of attacks since November 27 ceasefire that ended 13 months of hostilities with Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group.
