Israeli Forces Conduct Retaliatory Airstrikes on Lebanon and Gaza Strip... Heightened Tensions in the Middle East

34 Rockets Fired from Lebanon to Israel the Previous Day
UN: "Israel and Lebanon Do Not Want War"

As tensions escalate between Israel and Palestine over the East Jerusalem holy sites, Israel directly struck southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip in response to rocket attacks targeting its territory.

According to the daily newspaper The Guardian and others on the 7th (local time), Israel carried out retaliatory airstrikes at dawn against Hamas strongholds in Lebanon. Airstrikes were also conducted on 10 Hamas bases in the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

This was in response to at least 34 rockets launched from southern Lebanon targeting northern Israel the previous afternoon. The attack the day before was the largest since the 2006 armed conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

No group claimed responsibility. However, Israel believes the attacks were carried out by Hamas or the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, and that Hezbollah was likely aware of the attack plans.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated on Twitter that day, "We struck targets including terrorist infrastructure belonging to Hamas in southern Lebanon." They added, "We will not tolerate the terrorist organization Hamas operating in Lebanon, and we will hold the Lebanese government accountable for direct fire originating from Lebanese territory."

This is reportedly the first time since April last year that Israel has directly confirmed attacks on Lebanese territory. Since the 2006 ceasefire mediated by the United Nations between Israel and Hezbollah, the border between the two countries has been relatively quiet.

Hamas immediately condemned Israel's attacks. In a statement, Hamas said, "We strongly condemn the blatant Zionist attack on Lebanon that occurred early this morning."

The Lebanese government, on the other hand, condemned the rocket launches targeting Israel from within its territory. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati emphasized that the Lebanese army will conduct investigations and that actions escalating tensions and causing instability must be prevented.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) stated that neither Lebanon nor Israel desires war and called for restraint to prevent escalation. John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council (NSC), also said, "We urge all parties to de-escalate tensions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.