Israel, Hezbollah Return to Escalation after Days of Limited Clashes

Smoke rises from Metula as a result of an attack carried out by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon. (AFP)
Smoke rises from Metula as a result of an attack carried out by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon. (AFP)
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Israel, Hezbollah Return to Escalation after Days of Limited Clashes

Smoke rises from Metula as a result of an attack carried out by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon. (AFP)
Smoke rises from Metula as a result of an attack carried out by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon. (AFP)

Hezbollah and the Israeli army resumed border clashes, hours after an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed a member of the Amal Movement. This ended days of smaller clashes that were limited to sporadic attacks by the party and usual Israeli responses.

The pace of military operations has escalated since Wednesday night, following Israeli strikes deep inside Lebanon that led to the killing of an Amal member in the town of Qantara, 7 kilometers away from the nearest border point.

Hezbollah said in successive statements that it had carried out four military operations, three of which targeted gatherings of Israeli soldiers, and were concentrated in the eastern sector.

The party announced on Thursday that it had “targeted a military intelligence force in Metula, killing and wounding its members, adding that the Al-Malikiyah site was also hit with artillery shells.

The Israeli army, in turn, said it attacked a party position in the town of Al-Dhahira, but Lebanese media reported that the raid targeted an uninhabited house, which led to its destruction and damage to the electricity network.

Civil defense teams rushed a number of citizens from the town to hospitals in Tyre after they suffered from suffocation.

Israel intensified the aerial bombardment, launching two missile raids targeting the town of Aita al-Shaab, and a third hitting the town of Yaroun. Two other raids destroyed homes in the town of Mays al-Jabal.

At around 10 pm on Wednesday, Israeli warplanes raided Aita al-Shaab and Marwahin, causing severe damage to property and crops, and attacked the outskirts of the town of Yarin.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that the Israeli raids “caused air pollution, during and after the bombing, which led to skin rashes, shortness of breath and suffocation.”



Assad and Shoigu Meet in Damascus, Discuss Security Issues

File photo: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Sergei Shoigu. EPA
File photo: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Sergei Shoigu. EPA
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Assad and Shoigu Meet in Damascus, Discuss Security Issues

File photo: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Sergei Shoigu. EPA
File photo: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Sergei Shoigu. EPA

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with visiting Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu on Monday and discussed with him strengthening bilateral relations, as well as international and regional security, the Syrian presidency announced.

"Assad received Shoigu and discussed with him a number of issues of international and national security, as well as bilateral relations between Syria and Russia and prospects for strengthening them in order to serve the interests of both countries," it said in a statement.

This was Shoigu’s first visit to Damascus since his appointment as Security Council Secretary in May. He had visited the Syrian capital on several occasions as Russian Defense Minister, the last of which was in February.

According to observers in Damascus, Shoigu’s meeting with Assad comes as part of Russian efforts to organize meetings between Syrian and Turkish officials to improve relations.