Israel launched strikes on eastern Lebanon, say Lebanese security sources
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Armed group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for downing an Israeli drone on April 6.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
Follow topic:
BEIRUT - Israel launched air strikes on eastern Lebanon and hit Hezbollah infrastructure sites early on April 7 after Hezbollah downed an Israeli drone, as both sides continue to trade fire amid escalating regional tensions.
The Israeli army said in a statement that fighter jets struck a military complex and three other sites belonging to Hezbollah in the eastern city of Baalbek.
It said the latest attack was in response to Iran-backed Hezbollah’s downing of an unmanned aerial vehicle in Lebanese airspace, which the group identified as the Israeli-made Hermes 900 drone.
Hezbollah said it later fired dozens of Katyusha rockets that hit an air defence base in the occupied Golan Heights, in retaliation for the Israeli raids on eastern Lebanon.
Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israel across Lebanon’s southern border since Oct 8, a day after Palestinian group Hamas launched an attack on Israel
Israeli shelling has killed around 270 Hezbollah fighters and some 50 civilians, security sources say.
In southern Lebanon, some 90,000 people have also been displaced, while more than 96,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country’s northern border area, officials from both sides say.
The United States and other countries have sought a diplomatic resolution to the exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel. Hezbollah said it would not halt fire before a ceasefire is implemented in Gaza.
Two security sources said the latest Israeli attack on Lebanon targeted a training camp belonging to Hezbollah in Janta village near the border with Syria and the town of Safri near Baalbek.
There were no reported casualties from those strikes, the sources said. REUTERS
