| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Hezbollah hits deep in north Israel after strike kills key member near Baalbek |
| 2024-07-07 |
| [An Nahar] Hezbollah on Sunday fired rockets at an area deep in north Israel after an Israeli airstrike Saturday killed one of its operatives near the eastern city of Baalbek. In a statement, the group said it launched dozens of Katyusha rockets at the Nimra military base west of Tiberias in response to the assassination near Baalbek. It described Nimra as "one of the main bases in the northern region" of Israel. In an earlier statement, the group said it destroyed espionage equipment at the al-Raheb Israeli post with the "appropriate weapons." Shortly after the Nimra attack, Israeli airstrikes hit a house in the Tyre district town of Maaroub and several border towns. The Israeli army said Saturday that the slain Hezbollah operative was part of the group's air defense unit. Hezbollah has traded near daily fire with the Israeli army across Lebanon's southern border since its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, triggering the war in Gaza. "A local Hezbollah official" was killed in an "Israeli drone" strike on a vehicle near the eastern city of Baalbek, a source close to the group told AFP on Saturday. Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported one person was killed when an "enemy drone" targeted a vehicle in the Shaat area, around 15 kilometers (nine miles) north of Baalbek. The area is around 100 kilometers from Lebanon's southern border with Israel. The Israeli military said in a statement that the air force "operated in the area of Baalbek to strike and eliminate... a key operative in Hezbollah's Aerial Defense Unit." The Hezbollah operative "took part in the planning and carrying out of numerous terror attacks" against Israel and helped build up the group's "arsenal of Iranian weapons," the statement added. Hezbollah announced that a fighter from the area had been killed, identifying him as Maitham al-Attar. |
| Posted by:Fred |