At dawn on Thursday, Israeli warplanes bombed targets in southern Lebanon, hours after targeting northern Israel with three missiles launched from Lebanese territory. First Israeli artillery responded to the firing of rockets from Lebanon towards its territory.
The Eastern Herald correspondent reported that Israeli planes targeted a forested area with “air-to-surface” missiles in the “Al-Dimashqieh” area in the town of Al-Aishiya in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli army said in a statement that its planes bombed the missile launch sites that targeted Israeli territory.
The Israeli strikes followed the evacuation of a Lebanese army checkpoint in the Khordali area.
The Israeli forces fired into Lebanese territory in three rounds of strikes carried out “within two hours” in response to the rocket fire earlier on Wednesday.
The Israeli army did not specify the exact location of the fall of the rockets fired from Lebanon, but the sirens sounded and residents rushed to the shelters in Kiryat Shmona, Kfar Giladi, and Tel Hai.
According to the Magen David Adom ambulance service, four patients were diagnosed with panic attacks. While there were no immediate reports of any injuries on the Lebanese side.
The Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who was with Defense Minister Benny Gantz in Parliament (Knesset), indicated that they had been “bred” about the events and that the leadership was following up on the matter.
For his part, Gantz called for sending a “strong message” to the UNIFIL forces deployed on the Lebanese-Israeli borders, according to what his ministry announced.
Wednesday’s incident comes on the first anniversary of the explosion in the port of Beirut , which killed 214 people, injured more than 6,500, and destroyed several neighborhoods in the Lebanese capital.
It is noteworthy that the last launch of rockets from Lebanon into Israel took place in May, during the 11-day war between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip .
