Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed in an emergency cabinet meeting on Thursday that regardless of internal divisions regarding the government’s judicial reform, the enemies of Israel would “pay a price.”
After 34 rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon during the Jewish holiday of Passover, marking what Israeli media outlets have called the most serious escalation between Lebanon and Israel since the 2006 war, the PM said, “We are all, without exception, united on this, will hit back at our enemies, and they will pay the price for every act of aggression.”
“Israel’s response, tonight and later, will exact a significant price from our enemies. Our enemies will learn again that during times that we are tested, Israeli citizens stand together united,” Netanyahu added.
lsraeli warplanes launch an attack on Gaza. pic.twitter.com/NmJvLCCjJq
— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) April 6, 2023
Following the rocket attack from Lebanon, the Israeli military jets struck targets in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in retaliatory attacks. The Israeli military said that it hit a number of targets belonging to the terror group Hamas in southern Lebanon. They said that Israeli jets hit targets in Gaza including tunnels and weapons manufacturing sites of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. According to IDF, two tunnels operated by Hamas, two weapon production sites, and an anti-aircraft missile launcher were hit. Later a heavy machine gun in northern Gaza was taken out by an Israeli drone. The weapon was used by Hamas to fire at Israeli aircraft.
IDF now also attacking in Lebanon pic.twitter.com/mlYH6q7MMM
— Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي (@NTarnopolsky) April 7, 2023
Later Israel also hit Hamas targets in southern Lebanon. They said that “terrorist infrastructures belonging to Hamas” in southern Lebanon were targeted. Hamas has a strong presence in southern Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps. The IDF said that its airstrikes were in response to security violations by Hamas in recent days.
Almost immediately after Israel launched the attack, Palestinian militants in Gaza started firing rockets into southern Israel, setting off air raid sirens across the region. Hamas members also fired shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli aircraft, even though they do not pose much threat to the jets.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement on Friday that Israel “will not allow the Hamas terrorist organization to operate from within Lebanon and holds the state of Lebanon responsible for every directed fire emanating from its territory.”
Although no one has taken responsibility for the incident, an IDF official informed reporters that Hamas was to blame and that Lebanon was also “responsible for any attack from its territory.” Beirut and Hamas have not responded to the accusations. Hezbollah and Palestinian factions in Lebanon are also among the suspects. Hezbollah controls the area in South Lebanon from where the rockets were fired.
The military has apparently been told to prepare “all possible options of retaliation for the rocket attack” and present them to the cabinet, according to Yoav Gallant, the defence minister who was fired by Netanyahu last week before being reinstated in the wake of fierce protests.
Notably, on Thursday, 6th April 2023, militants in Lebanon fired multiple rockets on the targets in the northern part of Israel, forcing people into bomb shelters and injuring at least one person. According to the Israeli military, 34 rockets were fired into the border, 25 of which were shot down by the Iron Dome air defence system, while five of them landed within Israel.
Warning sirens were sounded in the town of Shlomi and in Moshav Betzet in northern Israel due to the rocket attacks, the Israeli army said. Israel’s ambulance service said one man had sustained minor shrapnel injuries. Reportedly Katyusha-time rockets were fired
Over the last couple of hours, 34 rockets were fired from Lebanon at Northern Israel, putting innocent lives in danger.
— David Saranga (@DavidSaranga) April 6, 2023
The Israeli government will take all necessary measures to defend its citizens against acts of violence! pic.twitter.com/MRNIzQi9X0
It is notable that this attack came after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians inside Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque. Threats of revenge had been sent from all around the region as a result of the violence within the third-holiest place in Islam. Israel also refuted accusations from Lebanon that it had responded to the incident with retaliation strikes.
According to reports, Lebanon had fired a “salvo” of rockets. Right now, no one has claimed responsibility for the assault. In the northern Israeli towns of Shlomi, Moshav Betzet, and Galilee, warning sirens were heard. According to the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he “received continuous updates regarding the security situation and will perform an assessment with the chiefs of the security services.”
After days of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, riots at Al-Aqsa, and an alleged Iranian drone launched from Syria earlier in the week, tensions were unprecedentedly high when the rocket attack occurred. After such instances, Hezbollah seemed to imply that it may possibly join the conflict.
Hezbollah had said in a statement, “Hezbollah forcefully denounces the assault carried out by the Israeli occupation forces against the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and its attacks on the faithful. Hezbollah proclaims its full solidarity with the Palestinian people and the resistance groups, and pledges that it will stand with them in all measures they take to protect worshipers and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to deter the enemy from continuing its attacks.”
Hezbollah controls most of the area in Southern Lebanon, across the border with Israel, and regularly clashes with Israeli border forces. This incident has raised fears of an escalation in hostilities.
