Rocket Launch at Israel from Lebanon Draws Israeli Cross-border Shelling

A Merkava battle tank is positioned on the northern border with Lebanon near the Israeli Kibbutz of Misgav Am, on June 27, 2023. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)
A Merkava battle tank is positioned on the northern border with Lebanon near the Israeli Kibbutz of Misgav Am, on June 27, 2023. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)
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Rocket Launch at Israel from Lebanon Draws Israeli Cross-border Shelling

A Merkava battle tank is positioned on the northern border with Lebanon near the Israeli Kibbutz of Misgav Am, on June 27, 2023. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)
A Merkava battle tank is positioned on the northern border with Lebanon near the Israeli Kibbutz of Misgav Am, on June 27, 2023. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP)

 
Two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward Israel on Thursday, prompting cross-border strikes by the Israeli military, sources on both sides said.
The incident came amid heightened Israeli-Arab tensions after Israel this week conducted one of its largest military incursions in decades in the occupied West Bank, targeting the Palestinian Jenin camp, Reuters said.
Three security sources in Lebanon said two rockets were fired toward Israel, one of them landing in Lebanese territory and the second near a disputed area at the border.
After initially saying it had no indications of any unusual incidents on its side of the border, the Israeli military said a projectile had exploded there. There was no word of any damage.
"In response, the Israeli army is currently striking the area from which the launch was carried out in Lebanese territory," a military statement said.
It added that Israeli communities near the border had not been issued with any special instructions. During major flare-ups, Israel usually orders civilians within range to take cover.
PLUMES OF SMOKE
Reuters witnesses saw plumes of white smoke emanating from the hilly south. One resident of Wazzani, the village in southern Lebanon where one of the rockets fell, said artillery fire had hit there from the direction of Israel.
The sources in Lebanon said the second rocket had landed near the disputed village of Ghajar, which straddles the Israel-Lebanon border but whose residents profess allegiance to Syria.
There was no claim of responsibility for the reported rocket fire and no immediate comment from the Lebanese army or the United Nations' peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed Lebanese group that controls southern Lebanon and has fought several wars with Israel, expressed support for the Palestinian cause during this week's Israeli operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.
Hezbollah did not comment on the reports of rocket fire.
In a separate statement, the armed group condemned what it called "dangerous measures" taken by Israeli forces in the northern part of Ghajar, which Lebanon considers to belong to it.
Hezbollah accused Israel of erecting a wire fence and building a cement wall. Lebanon's foreign ministry on Tuesday said it was concerned by the moves, saying they were creating a "new reality on the ground". There was no immediate response from Israel's military to the Hezbollah accusation.
Israel blamed the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas for firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon in April during another flare-up in Israeli-Palestinian violence. That prompted Israel to hit sites in Lebanon. 



Arab League Secretary General Condemns Israeli Statements on West Bank Sovereignty

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut, Lebanon October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut, Lebanon October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Arab League Secretary General Condemns Israeli Statements on West Bank Sovereignty

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut, Lebanon October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut, Lebanon October 21, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the extremist remarks made by an Israeli official regarding extending Israel’s sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, the Saudi Press Agency said on Wednesday.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Aboul Gheit urged the international community to take a stand against this radical attitude, emphasizing that it only leads to heightened tensions in the region and incites further extremism and violence.
He said that such statements attest to Israel's total disregard for international law, which recognizes the West Bank as an occupied territory that cannot be annexed or subjected to Israeli sovereignty, and considers settlements illegal.
Aboul Gheit further stressed that such statements expose the true nature of the extremist settler government in Israel, which is an occupying force, and reveal its actual agenda, which is to undermine the Palestinian cause through its policies, including the annexation of occupied territory.
The Extraordinary Arab and Islamic Summit held in Riyadh, he added, approved several mechanisms and action plans to counter the Israeli agenda, which has now become evident as solely aimed at undermining any genuine opportunity to arrive at the two-state solution, a goal supported by the entire international community.