Israel strikes Lebanon after Hezbollah hits Shebaa Farms

On Saturday, the most serious attack in years by Palestinian gunmen on Israeli towns left at least 250 Israelis dead, with another 230 Gazans killed in Israel’s retaliatory bombardment.

Hezbollah, a powerful armed party backed by Iran, said it had launched guided rockets and artillery onto three posts in the Shebaa Farms “in solidarity” with the Palestinian people.

Hezbollah supporters wave the group’s and Palestinian flags during a rally in celebration of the attacks that the militant Hamas group carried out against Israel, in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo)

The Israeli military said on Sunday it fired artillery into an area of Lebanon where cross-border mortar fire was launched. “IDF (Israel Defense Forces) artillery is currently striking the area in Lebanon from where a shooting was carried out,” it said.

Israel’s military said one its drones struck a Hezbollah post in the area of Har Dov, an area in Shebaa.

“At this point, there is no further threat in Har Dov or the northern arena,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in televised remarks, adding that the military remained on high alert.

Israel has held the Shebaa Farms, a 15-square-mile (39-square-km) patch of land, since 1967. Both Syria and Lebanon claim the Shebaa Farms are Lebanese.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said it had “detected several rockets fired from southeast Lebanon toward Israeli-occupied territory” as well as artillery fire from Israel into Lebanon in response.

“We are in contact with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line, at all levels, to contain the situation and avoid a more serious escalation,” spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said.

The fens of an Israeli military position is seen damaged after Hezbollah’s rocket attacks, on an occupied hill of Kfar Chouba village, southeast Lebanon, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. (AP Photo)

The Blue Line is the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, marking where Israeli forces withdrew when they left south Lebanon in 2000.

On Saturday, UNIFIL said it had enhanced its presence in southern Lebanon following developments in Israel and Gaza, including its operations to counter rocket launches.

The U.N.’s special coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka said on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that she was “deeply concerned” by the exchange of fire and urged parties to “shield Lebanon and its people from further conflagration.”

Hezbollah, which effectively controls southern Lebanon, said on Saturday it was in “direct contact” with leaders of Palestinian “resistance” groups and that it saw Palestinian attacks on Israel as a “decisive response to Israel’s continued occupation and a message to those seeking normalisation with Israel”.