Smoke from Sour, South Lebanon, following an Israeli strike, Nov. 18, 2023. (Credit: Alaa al-Marjani/Reuters)
BEIRUT — An Israeli raid on Saturday targeted a Lebanese aluminum factory some 15 kilometers north of the border between the two countries, Lebanese state media reported.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said that "an enemy drone fired two missiles at an aluminum factory on the road between Toul and Kfour" in the Nabatieh area, causing a fire. The NNA reported no casualties in the strike; however, AFP cites Khodr Saad, chairman of the Kfour municipal council, as saying two wounded civilians were taken to hospital.
The NNA reports that this is the first Israeli strike against the outskirts of the town of Nabatieh since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. The latter supports Hamas, which carried out a bloody attack on Israeli soil on Oct. 7. Since then, Israel, which has vowed to "annihilate" Hamas, has been waging a murderous war in the Gaza Strip, raising fears of a regional conflagration.
On Nov. 11, the Israeli army carried out its first deep strike inside Lebanon against a vehicle in Zahrani, some 45 kilometers north of the border between the states. Prior to this incident, daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel since Oct. 8 had generally been confined to the border area between the two countries.
Our correspondent Muntasser Abdallah and the NNA also reported Israeli artillery fire and air raids against several localities in the south of the country.
For its part, Hezbollah claimed to have shot down an Israeli Hermes 450 combat drone "using a surface-to-air missile" on Saturday morning. It also claimed five other attacks on Israel's northern border.
"As long as there is a war against Gaza ..., all resistance forces ... will continue to put pressure on Israel. There is no question today of talking about a cease-fire on one front and not the other," said Hashem Safieddine, a senior Hezbollah official, on Saturday.
The previous day, the pro-Iranian party had claimed responsibility for 13 attacks on Israeli military positions on the border, including an attack on a gathering of Israeli soldiers using "suicide drones."
Daily exchanges of fire in southern Lebanon have left at least 90 people dead since Oct. 7, most of them Hezbollah fighters, but also 10 civilians, according to an AFP count. Nine people have been killed on the Israeli side, including six soldiers, according to the Israeli authorities.