BEIRUT: Tensions escalated on Sunday on the southern Lebanese front as hostilities between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Israeli army intensified.
There was a continuous bombardment, and the Israeli side targeted a new area in southern Lebanon, some 20 km away from the border.
Israeli aircraft conducted an airstrike on the outskirts of Jannata town on Sunday afternoon, destroying a house in the raid.
The Israeli army also carried out an airstrike on a house in the town of Tura in the Tyre district.
Israeli strikes targeted two areas in the Bekaa Valley — Jannata and Sifri. (Supplied)
Israeli artillery fired powerful shells toward the area near the Litani River in Al-Khardali. The Khardali road was temporarily closed by Lebanese security forces to ensure public safety, but later reopened.
Hezbollah targeted a “new Israeli army artillery position near the Al-Manara site using artillery shells.”
It launched Katyusha rockets at the air-and-missile defense command headquarters at Kila Barracks, and the missile and artillery base in Yoav in retaliation for Israel’s attacks on the Bekaa region.
The military escalation came hours after Israeli aircraft targeted the town of Al-Safari in the Baalbek district and the outskirts of the village of Janta in the heights of the eastern Lebanon mountain range, close to the Lebanese-Syrian border.
According to Reuters, a Lebanese source said the Israeli attack had targeted a Hezbollah training camp in Janta, although a Lebanese media source said the raid was on an empty warehouse.
Hezbollah sources said the group had already evacuated centers and areas believed to be Israeli targets in the Bekaa.
Israel’s targeting of Baalbek establishes a pattern of expanding Israeli targets beyond southern Lebanon to its borders with Syria, according to a source.
Al Jazeera reported that 30 rockets were launched from southern Lebanon toward the occupied territories in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, triggering alarm sirens and the Israeli Iron Dome defense system. However, Hezbollah did not release any statement claiming responsibility for the operation.
Avichay Adraee, the spokesperson of the Israeli army, confirmed that the Israeli military had conducted raids on three Hezbollah air defense sites in Baalbek.
An Israeli drone was downed in Lebanese airspace on Saturday night and, in response, Israeli aircraft targeted three military facilities belonging to Hezbollah in Baalbek.
Hezbollah then reported it had forced down a drone by launching a surface-to-air missile on Saturday night.
“The most sophisticated Hermes 900 spy drone was forced down within the eastern airspace of southern Lebanon,” said Hezbollah, adding that it was being used for reconnaissance purposes.
It was reported that all other Israeli spy drones disappeared from southern Lebanon skies following the incident.
