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Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said his country was likely to be trained in a “new war” because dozens of new Israeli air strikes against the armed group of Hezbollah killed at least two people.
Salam issued the warning on Saturday, saying that “renewed military operations of Israel on the southern border” would bring “misfortunes to Lebanon and to the Lebanese people”.
At least two people are confirmed and eight others injured by Israeli air raids, according to reports from the national news agency in Lebanon. Three of the victims, including one of the people killed, are children, he said, citing the public health emergency operations center managed by the government.
Israeli artillery and air strikes struck southern Lebanon after its soldiers said they had intercepted three rockets launched from a Lebanese district about 6 km (4 miles) north of their common border. Israel said that he had targeted the rocket launchers he claimed to belong to Hezbollah, which he has responsible for launches.
Hezbollah has published a statement refusing any involvement in the series of rocket attacks against northern Israel in southern Lebanon.
In its declaration, Hezbollah accused Israel of having created a pretext to renew its air attacks and reiterated its commitment to a cease-fire signed in November, which ended a year of war between the two parties.
Citing two sources of security, the radio of the Israeli army reported that the military response in southern Lebanon had not finished.
“There will be additional strikes in the coming hours,” the sources said.
Prolonged conflict
The reported exchange on Saturday was the first since Israel on Tuesday abandoned a separate ceasefire In the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian group Hamas.
Lebanon blamed Israel for prolonged conflict after Do not withdraw From all the Lebanese territory stipulated in the ceasefire.
As part of the agreement, a deadline of January was set for an Israeli withdrawal, but Israel extended it until February 18. Since then, Israeli soldiers have stayed in five places in Lebanon and its soldiers have made dozens of deadly strikes against supposed targets of Hezbollah, often hitting civilians.
Salam said on Saturday that “all security measures and soldiers must be taken to show that Lebanon decides on issues of war and peace”.
In a separate declaration, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned “attempts” to destabilize his country and revive violence as he called for an action to prevent a new climbing of the conflict.
Israel said the attacks were “in response to Israel.”
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and the Minister of Defense Israel Katz asked the Israeli army to “act forcefully against dozens of terrorist targets in Lebanon”.
Netanyahu said that Israel held the government of Lebanon responsible for “everything taking place on its territory”.
Zeina Khodr, of Al Jazeera, reporting from Beirut, said that there was “a lot of concern that the situation becomes uncontrollable”.
“What we understand are the Lebanese officials are talks with the United States committee on control of the ceasefire to try to defuse tensions,” she said.
Gaza war spills
The conflict in Lebanon was the deadliest overflow of the Gaza War, rumbling through the border for months before degenerating in an dazzling Israeli offensive which killed several of the main leaders and commanders of Hezbollah and destroyed a large part of its arsenal.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, said on a written statement on Saturday that it was “alarmed” by border violence.
“Any additional escalation of this volatile situation could have serious consequences for the region,” he said.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, the political analyst Sultan Barakat of Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha warned that “as long as the (Israeli) occupation continues, … the resistance will continue.”
