Israel struck targets deeper into Lebanese territory on Tuesday, reaching areas close to the southern city of Sidon.
An airstrike led to a destruction of a firing range in the Iqlim al-Tuffah area that is located 25 kms from the closest border point and 7 kms from Sidon.
Lebanese activists said Israeli jets flew at medium altitude over the city and Iqlim al-Tuffah. An explosion was then heard in the city. They later learned that Israel had struck a hunting club and firing range. The facility and a nearby house were destroyed.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, retaliated to Israel’s recent string of assassinations by launching missiles at the Israeli air base on Mount Meron for the second time in a month.
The Iran-backed party said in a statement that Tuesday's barrage was in response to “recent assassinations in Lebanon and Syria, and the repeated attacks on civilians and homes” in southern Lebanon. It claimed to have made direct hits.
The Israeli military said some of the launches were intercepted by air defenses and others landed, causing “minor damage” to infrastructure at the base but no injuries.
Hezbollah previously struck the air base in retaliation for a presumed Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Jan. 2 that killed senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri.
On Saturday, 13 people, including five advisers in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, were killed in an Israeli raid on Damascus. The strike destroyed an entire building in the Syrian capital and Iran vowed to retaliate.
After more than three months of near-daily clashes between Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border, Israel in recent weeks appears to have moved to a strategy of targeted killings of figures from Hezbollah and allied groups in Lebanon and Syria.
In some cases, civilians have been killed along with the apparent intended targets. An Israeli airstrike hit two vehicles near a Lebanese army checkpoint in south Lebanon on Sunday, killing a Hezbollah member in one car and a civilian woman in the other.
The ongoing border clashes are a problem for Israel as residents of the northern regions refuse to return before the fighting ends.
Israeli reports said the Israeli ministerial cabinet for political and security affairs convened in one of the northern towns. Heads of local authorities also attended the meeting.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had on Monday said Hezbollah was continuing its “provocations in the North. We remain vigilant of everything happening in the region.”
“An assessment has been made of the situation. We are fully prepared. We don’t want a war, but we are ready to confront any situation that may unfold in the North,” he added.
