Two Rockets from Lebanon Hit Israel, Drawing Israeli Retaliation

Vehicles drive along border wall with Israel near southern Lebanese village of Adaisseh. (AFP file photo)
Vehicles drive along border wall with Israel near southern Lebanese village of Adaisseh. (AFP file photo)
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Two Rockets from Lebanon Hit Israel, Drawing Israeli Retaliation

Vehicles drive along border wall with Israel near southern Lebanese village of Adaisseh. (AFP file photo)
Vehicles drive along border wall with Israel near southern Lebanese village of Adaisseh. (AFP file photo)

Two rockets launched from Lebanon on Wednesday struck Israel, which responded with artillery fire, amid heightened regional tensions over an alleged Iranian attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf last week.

Israel's Magen David Adom national ambulance service said there were no casualties on the Israeli side of the hilly frontier, where the rockets ignited a brush fire.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket strike, launched from an area of south Lebanon under the sway of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

In a statement, Israel's military said three rockets were launched from Lebanon, with one falling short of the Israeli border and the others striking inside Israel. Witnesses in Lebanon also reported that several rockets were fired at Israel.

"In response, (Israeli) artillery forces attacked Lebanese territory," the military said. Some two hours after the initial shelling, the military said its artillery had fired again at targets, which it did not identify, along the frontier.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said its Head of Mission and Force Commander, Major General Stefano Del Col, was in contact with both parties.

"He urged them to cease fire and to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation, especially on this solemn anniversary," the statement said, referring to the Beirut port explosion on Aug. 4 last year.

The border has been mostly quiet since Israel fought a 2006 war against Hezbollah, which has advanced rockets.

But small Palestinian factions in Lebanon have fired sporadically on Israel in the past, and two rockets were launched at Israel on July 20, causing no damage or injuries. Israel responded to that incident with artillery fire.

The latest border incidents occurred after an attack last Thursday, which Israel blamed on Iran, on a tanker off the coast of Oman. Two crew members, a Briton and a Romanian, were killed. Iran has denied any involvement.

Briefing a meeting of ambassadors from UN Security Council countries to Israel on Wednesday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said: "It is time for diplomatic, economic and even military deeds (against Iran) - otherwise the attacks will continue."

On Tuesday, Britain, Romania and Liberia told the United Nations Security Council it was "highly likely" that Iran used one or more drones to strike the vessel.

The United States and Britain said on Sunday they would work with their allies to respond to the attack. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday that Israel was keeping open the option of acting alone against Iran if necessary.



Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.