Jerusalem/Beirut, Aug 9 (EFE).- Israeli forces bombed a command and infrastructure center of the Shiite militia Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in response to rocket launches from across the border, a situation that marks the worst border escalation between the two countries in 18 years.
Over the last one week, Hezbollah has been threatening to conduct a large-scale attack on Israel in retaliation for the murder of its top military commander.
At least two people were killed Friday morning in an Israeli drone strike on Naqoura in southern Lebanon amid intensified targeted attacks on Hezbollah.
The emergency operations center of the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health announced in a statement the death of two people as a result of the air strike, without giving details of their identities or possible affiliation to any of the armed groups fighting Israel.
The town houses the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and it has only been the target of a limited number of targeted attacks since October.
Moreover, Israel said its Air Force attacked a Hezbollah command center in the Hanaway area and militia infrastructure in Ayta al-Shab, including a launcher from which numerous rockets were fired Thursday into Israeli territory in the area of Biranit in the Upper Galilee.
Last night, Israel identified the launch of about 25 rockets in two separate volleys that hit unpopulated areas near Shlomi and Kibbutz Kabri.
Early Friday, anti-aircraft sirens were activated in the areas of Manara and Kiryat Shmona, very close to the Lebanese-Israeli border, and the Army identified several shells crossing from Lebanon and falling into depopulated areas.
The border between Lebanon and Israel is experiencing its worst escalation since the 2006 war, after Hezbollah in October opened fire on Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and is waging war with Israel.
In addition, Israel is expecting a possible large-scale attack by Hezbollah and its main ally, Iran, in response to the killings last week of senior officials of Hamas and the Shia group.
Shia military leader Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli attack in Beirut on July 30 shortly before the assassination in Tehran of former Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an attack Iran attributes to Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday warned Lebanese inhabitants that if Hezbollah continued to attack Israel, they would respond with all its strength.
Meanwhile, the authorities in settlements in northern Israel warned their residents that they may end up spending several days in their bunkers in case the escalation takes place.
The Lebanese government, on its part, has been working on a contingency plan while several countries have asked their citizens to evacuate the country, which continues to use diplomatic channels to try to avoid open conflict.
The escalation that broke out in October has claimed the lives of nearly 600 people, mostly on the Lebanese side and in the ranks of Hezbollah, which has confirmed 369 casualties of militiamen and commanders, some in Syria.
In Israel, 47 people have been killed in the north, including 22 military personnel and 25 civilians, including the 12 minors who lost their lives in the violent attack on the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Golan Heights. EFE
yo-sr-njd/sc
