Hezbollah Says Israeli Attacks on Lebanon Civilians to Be 'Reciprocated'

Lebanese Hezbollah fighters take part in cross-border raids, part of large-scale military exercise, in Aaramta bordering Israel on May 21, 2023, ahead of the anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. (AFP)
Lebanese Hezbollah fighters take part in cross-border raids, part of large-scale military exercise, in Aaramta bordering Israel on May 21, 2023, ahead of the anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. (AFP)
TT

Hezbollah Says Israeli Attacks on Lebanon Civilians to Be 'Reciprocated'

Lebanese Hezbollah fighters take part in cross-border raids, part of large-scale military exercise, in Aaramta bordering Israel on May 21, 2023, ahead of the anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. (AFP)
Lebanese Hezbollah fighters take part in cross-border raids, part of large-scale military exercise, in Aaramta bordering Israel on May 21, 2023, ahead of the anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. (AFP)

Lebanon's Hezbollah movement on Monday vowed any Israeli attacks on civilians "will be reciprocated", after an Israeli strike hit a building opposite a funeral procession for one of the group's fighters.

The frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen regular exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Hamas ally Hezbollah, since the conflict in the Gaza Strip began on October 7.

The Iran-backed group on Monday evening said they launched a "salvo of rockets" at the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona "in response to the enemy's targeting of the funeral in Aita al-Shaab", a Lebanese border town.

"Any harm to civilians will be reciprocated," the group added in a statement, AFP reported.

Lebanon's official National News Agency had earlier reported that Israel "targeted people who were participating in the funeral procession" of Hezbollah member Hassan Srur in Aita al-Shaab.

The strike hit a building less than 40 metres (130 feet) from the procession, causing damage but no casualties, the agency said, adding that "the Israeli enemy was trying to intimidate hundreds" of mourners, who nonetheless continued with the ceremony.

Not long after, artillery shells also fell near the funeral procession for another Hezbollah fighter in Beit Lif, a few kilometres further north, the correspondent said.

Shortly after the strikes, Hezbollah said it had fired artillery at two launchpads from Israel's Iron Dome air defense system.



Iraq Will Not Be Just a ‘Spectator’ in Syria, Prime Minister Says

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani delivers a speech during the Spain-Iraq business meeting in Madrid, Spain, 28 November 2024. (EPA)
Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani delivers a speech during the Spain-Iraq business meeting in Madrid, Spain, 28 November 2024. (EPA)
TT

Iraq Will Not Be Just a ‘Spectator’ in Syria, Prime Minister Says

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani delivers a speech during the Spain-Iraq business meeting in Madrid, Spain, 28 November 2024. (EPA)
Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani delivers a speech during the Spain-Iraq business meeting in Madrid, Spain, 28 November 2024. (EPA)

Iraq will not act as a mere spectator in Syria where it believes groups and sects are victims of ethnic cleansing, Iraq's prime minister said on Tuesday, according to a readout from his office of a phone call to Türkiye's president.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who discussed the situation in Syria with Türkiye's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Iraq would exert all efforts to preserve the security of Iraq and Syria, according to the official readout of the call.

"What is happening in Syria today is in the interest of the Zionist entity, which deliberately bombed Syrian army sites in a way that paved the way for terrorist groups to control additional areas in Syria," the Iraqi prime minister's office quoted Sudani as saying.

Factions opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad seized the city of Aleppo last week in their biggest advance in years. Iraq's Shiite-led government has close relations with Iran, which is an ally of Assad, and Iraqi militia fighters have fought on Assad's side in the war.

Two Iraqi security sources and a senior Syrian military source told Reuters on Monday that hundreds of Iraqi Shiite militia fighters had crossed the border late on Sunday to help Assad's army fight the opposition’s advance.

The head of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, which includes the major Shiite militia groups aligned with Iran, said no group under its umbrella had entered Syria.

The Syrian opposition fighters have said their advance over the past week met little resistance, in part because the most powerful of Iran's allies, Lebanon's Hezbollah group, had pulled its forces out of Syria to battle Israel in Lebanon.

Israel, which has long struck what it says are Iran-aligned military targets in Syria, has stepped up such strikes over the past 14 months as it battled Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.