BEIRUT: Tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border escalated on Sunday as Hezbollah and Israeli forces traded a series of cross-border attacks, a day after the Lebanese health ministry reported three rescuers killed and two others injured in an Israeli attack.
Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets at the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona in response to the fatal Israeli strike. The group’s spokesperson confirmed the attack, describing it as retaliation for “the enemy’s aggression” against their rescue workers.
According to Lebanon’s health ministry, the rescuers were part of a civil defense team that had been extinguishing fires caused by previous Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli military, however, claimed the airstrike targeted Hezbollah-affiliated Amal movement operatives.
Lebanon’s civil defense agency condemned the strike, asserting that the rescue workers were killed while performing their duties to combat the fires caused by the conflict. Prime Minister Najib Mikati denounced the attack as a “blatant violation of international laws and human values,” calling for an immediate end to the Israeli aggression.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing rockets at the Israeli community of Shamir, near Kiryat Shmona. The group has also targeted Israeli military positions and infrastructure in southern Lebanon using Katyusha rockets and drones.
The Israeli military responded with airstrikes on what it described as Hezbollah military structures in Lebanon, and announced that it had intercepted projectiles launched from Lebanese territory overnight.
The cross-border violence has taken a heavy toll on both sides. According to an AFP tally, around 614 people have been killed in Lebanon. On the Israeli side, including the annexed Golan Heights, 50 people, mainly soldiers, have been killed.
Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad reported that since the conflict began in October, 27 emergency personnel and health workers have been killed, and 94 others wounded. He condemned the “repeated and deliberate targeting” of health workers and emergency services.
