ReutersHezbollah has launched dozens of rockets at the occupied Golan Heights after Israeli aircraft struck deep inside Lebanon, as fears of an all-out war grow.
The Israeli military said it hit Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the Bekaa Valley overnight. The Lebanese health ministry said one person was killed and 30 others injured.
In response, Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, said it targeted Israeli military positions in the Golan with a rocket barrage. Israeli authorities said two homes were hit and one person was injured.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Fatah movement accused Israel of assassinating a senior member of its armed wing in Lebanon in an effort to ignite a regional conflict.
The Israeli military said it had killed Khalil al-Makdah in a strike in the southern port city of Sidon because he was operating on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and was involved in directing attacks in and smuggling weapons to the occupied West Bank.
It was reportedly the first strike on a Fatah member since the start of the Gaza war, which has led to escalating cross-border hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
Tensions have risen in recent weeks after Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut, who it blamed for the killing of 12 children in a rocket attack.
So far, more than 530 people have been reported killed in Lebanon, among them at least 130 civilians, and 49 people in Israel, including 26 civilians. Almost 200,000 people have also been displaced on both sides of the border.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told troops on Tuesday that the military’s “centre of gravity” was gradually shifting from Gaza and to the Lebanese border.
“Attacking munitions warehouses in Lebanon is preparation for anything that might happen,” he noted.
On Wednesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that jets had struck overnight a number of Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in the northern Bekaa Valley – a stronghold of the group – as well as a compound used by an air defence system.
The IDF also said it had targeted a Hezbollah fighter in the southern border village of Beit Lif.
Lebanon’s health ministry said the strikes in the Bekaa region had killed one person, whom was not identified, and that nine children had been among the 30 injured.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said the strikes had targeted the outskirts of the town of Bodai, the area between Saraain and Safri, and Nabi Chit.
The health ministry also reported that a man had been killed in Beit Lif, while Hezbollah confirmed the death of a fighter from the village called Hussein Mostafa.
EPAIn response to the strikes, Hezbollah said it had launched a barrage of rockets towards an IDF logistics base in the Golan Heights.
The IDF said about 50 projectiles had been launched from Lebanon and that some had fallen in the settlement of Katzrin.
A 30-year-old man was moderately wounded by shrapnel when a rocket hit his home and set it on fire, according to the Magen David Adom ambulance service.
The deputy commander of the IDF’s Northern Command, Brigadier General Alon Friedman, accused Hezbollah of directly targeting the 8,000 civilians living in Katzrin.
Hezbollah also said it had carried out a separate drone attack on Israeli military bases and warehouses in Amiad, a kibbutz near the Sea of Galilee. The IDF said some of the drones had come down in the area, without causing any casualties.
ReutersLater on Wednesday, an Israeli drone strike killed Fatah’s Khalil al-Makdah as he drove a 4×4 vehicle through Sidon’s Villas area, according to NNA.
Fatah’s armed wing, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – whose Lebanese branch is headed by his brother, Mounir – later confirmed his death and described him as “one of the leaders of the military council in the West Bank”.
Tawfiq Tirawy, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee based in Ramallah, told AFP news agency that the “assassination of a Fatah official is further proof that Israel wants to ignite a full-scale war in the region”.
When asked about the comments at a briefing, Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said the IDF had “produced a comprehensive list of [Makdah’s] crimes”.
A joint statement from the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) alleged that Khalil and Mounir al-Makdah collaborated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and were “involved in the direction of terror attacks as well as the smuggling of weapons and funds designated for terrorist activities” into the West Bank.
“The IDF and ISA will constantly continue to take action to monitor and thwart activity that endangers the safety of the State of Israel and its citizens, in order to expose and impair Iranian attempts to carry out terrorist activity,” they added.