Hizbullah, the militant group from Lebanon, has declared it executed a drone strike on North Israel, resulting in injuries to two Israeli soldiers. This act of violence coincides with increasing anxieties over the potential for a full-blown regional conflict, following the assassinations of a high-ranking Hizbullah official in Lebanon and the key political leader of Hamas in Iran last week.
Supported by Iran, Hizbullah has issued a statement indicating the drone attack targeted a military base in North Israel. The action came as a response to “incursions and assassinations” conducted by Israel in a series of villages in South Lebanon. The attack did not seem to be an integral part of a larger and more severe retaliation related to the assassination of Hizbullah leader Fouad Shukur in Beirut the previous week.
Israeli armed forces report firefighting teams are exerting efforts to contain a fire ignited by the attack in Ayelet HaShahar, situated in Upper Galilee. Despite exchanging nearly daily strikes over the past 10 months in the midst of the Gaza war, both Hizbullah and Israel have managed to restrict the conflict to a lower level, avoiding outright warfare.
The assassinations last week of the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, the Iranian capital, and Hizbullah’s Mr Shukur in Beirut have intensified regional tension. In anticipation of a retaliatory strike from Iran and its allied factions, Israel remains at high alert.
Iran’s foreign ministry representative commented on Monday that while the country has no intention of escalating regional tension, it is compelled to retaliate against Israel to preclude further destabilisation. “To establish stability in the region, it’s necessary to punish the aggressor and deter Zionist regime [Israel] adventurism, making action from Tehran inevitable,” Nasser Kanaani declared.
He appealed to the United States to halt their support for Israel, reasoning that the international community needs to fulfil its obligations to maintain regional stability and support “the punishment of the aggressor”. Israel’s assassination of Mr Haniyeh on July 31st has been criticised by Iran, its ally groups Hamas and Hizbullah. Israeli authorities have not acknowledged responsibility.