The Israeli army renewed its shelling of southern Lebanon in response to the firing of rockets at Israeli territory. According to Lebanese media, the Israeli fighter jets targeted a forested area in the south of the country with air-to-surface missiles.
Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee said: “Our fighter jets launched raids on the areas from which rockets were fired today from Lebanon towards Israeli territory. Lebanon bears responsibility for what is happening inside its territory, and we warn against continuing attempts to attack our citizens and our sovereignty.”
He declared that “the Israeli army’s raids will continue and may escalate in the face of terrorist attempts against the State of Israel and its citizens.”
The Lebanese army had announced that it was conducting patrols at the southern border with Israel to detect the identities of the rocket launchers. At noon on Wednesday, 3 rockets were fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel, which responded with artillery shelling on Lebanese territory, according to what the Israeli army announced, at a time of rising tension between the two archenemies, Israel and Iran.
The Israeli army did not specify the exact location of the rockets, but sirens sounded and residents rushed to bomb shelters in Kiryat Shmona, Kfar Giladi and Tel Hai.
The US State Department condemned the missile attacks launched by armed groups based in Lebanon against Israel. The US State Department indicated that Washington will remain in contact with Israeli and Lebanese partners to calm the situation.