An anti-tank guided missile fired from Leb
...an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozeen flavors of Christians. It is the home of Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...at Israel on Thursday morning went
kaboom!on the border fence close to the northern village of Ghajar, the military said.
The Israel Defense Forces said that in response it carried out artillery strikes against the area from which the missile was launched.
The military had at first assessed the missile was a rocket, but later amended this.
Part of the projectile was found in Israeli territory, while another part landed in Lebanon.
The military was still looking into who was behind the attack.
Initially, the Rooters news agency reported that two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward Israel. The report said three Lebanese security officials confirmed that one of them landed in Lebanese territory and the second fell near a disputed area close to the border with Israel.
Hebrew-language media initially assessed the blast was caused by an old land mine on the border.
But in a subsequent statement, the IDF said that after forces arrived at the scene, "it emerged that a launch was carried out from Lebanese territory that went
kaboom!adjacent to the border in Israeli territory."
"In response, the IDF is currently striking the area from which the launch was carried out in Lebanese territory," the military said, adding that there were no special instructions for citizens of northern Israel.
According to Lebanon’s al-Manar TV network, associated with the Hezbollah terror group, at least 15 artillery shells were fired at an open hill in the area.
The UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said it could not verify what caused the earth-shattering kaboom, but that the sounds were "consistent with a possible launch."
UNIFIL said it sent peacekeepers to investigate the incident, while the head of the mission spoke to both Lebanese and Israeli authorities to ease the situation.
"This incident comes at a sensitive time and in an area that has already experienced tensions earlier this week," UNIFIL said in a statement. "We urge everyone to exercise restraint and avoid any action that could cause further escalation."
The incident came amid rising tensions on the border after the Hezbollah terror organization set up two tents several dozen meters inside of Israeli territory last month.
The Mount Dov area where the tents were erected, also known as Shebaa Farms, was captured by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War and later effectively annexed along with the Golan Heights. The Lebanese government says the area belongs to Lebanon.
Hezbollah evacuated one of the two tents on Sunday, but there has been no confirmation from the Iran-backed terror organization.
Last week, Hezbollah said it shot down an Israeli drone flying over a village in southern Lebanon. The group has in the past claimed downing Israeli drones, and Israel’s military also has said in the past that they have shot down Hezbollah drones.
Hezbollah has long been the IDF’s most potent adversary on Israel’s borders, with an estimated arsenal of nearly 150,000 rockets and missiles that can reach anywhere in Israel.