The confrontation between Hezbollah and the Israeli forces took an escalating turn on Thursday, as Israel targeted civilians, while Hezbollah introduced incendiary missiles for the first time since the outbreak of the conflict.
Hezbollah’s missiles hit the Branit forest in northern occupied Palestine, in response to the Israeli shelling that burnt olive trees and torched hundreds of square kilometers in the South.
For the first time since the start of the war, violent Israeli airstrikes targeted the Bouslayia area, close to the southern Mount Lebanon border, 32 kilometers from the nearest border point.
The sound of shelling was heard in large areas in Chouf in Mount Lebanon, as well as in the villages of the Jezzine region. The bombing came hours after Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew at low altitude over Lebanese areas, and after a shell was found in Wadi Bisri.
The shelling coincided with other air strikes in the border area that targeted homes and civilian facilities. The Israeli army said that it bombed an “operations command center” belonging to Hezbollah, and targeted fighters who were heading towards the border near Mtolleh. However, the attack turned out to have hit a civilian vehicle, killing one of the two passengers.
Field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that two incidents that occurred in the towns of Rab Talatin and Kafr Kila “indicate that Israel is seeking to establish a curfew zone in the border area,” as vehicles and motorcycles in the area were hit to prevent any civilian movements along the roads adjacent to the border strip.
Regarding the introduction of incendiary missiles into the battle, Hezbollah said that it fired incendiary rockets against the Branit Forest, in response to the Israeli burning of the Al-Raheb Forest.
“The [Lebanese Hezbollah] resistance reiterates that it will not tolerate any harm to civilians and will not allow the violation of our towns and villages,” the party said in a statement.
