In A First, Hezbollah Announces Attacks Against Israel In Response To Strikes On Syria

Hezbollah announced on March 29 that it had shelled the headquarters of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) 91st Division and the military site of Jal al-Alam in support of the Palestinian people and resistance in the Gaza Strip as well as in response to two recent waves of Israeli strikes that targeted the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the governorate of Aleppo.

In two separate statements, the Lebanese group said that its fighters fired two Burkan heavy improvised rockets at the 91st Division headquarters, which is located within the Pranit barracks, as well as a salvo of Falaq heavy rockets at the Jal al-Alam site and nearby troop gatherings right on the border with Lebanon.

The announcement marked the first time Hezbollah, a close ally of the Damascus government, has launched an attack from Lebanon in response to Israeli strikes that targeted Syrian territory during the ongoing confrontation with the IDF which broke out last October on the backdrop of the Israeli war on Gaza.

Five fighters of Hezbollah were among more than 40 military personnel and civilians who were reportedly killed in the Israeli strikes that targeted Aleppo in the early morning. A day earlier, several strikes hit the southern outskirts of Damascus, wounding two civilians.

Israel has significantly escalated its attacks against both Syria and Lebanon in recent days, mainly hitting targets linked to Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

On March 29, the IDF said that it eliminated the deputy commander of Hezbollah’s rocket unit in a drone strike in southern Lebanon.

The commander, identified as Ali Naim, was targeted while in a car in the town of Bazouriye, close to the city of Tyre in the morning.

According to the IDF, Naim is “considered to be a significant source of knowledge in the terror group, and leader in the field of rockets.”

“He was also one of the leaders for heavy-warhead rocket fire and responsible for conducting and planning attacks against Israeli civilians,” the IDF said in a statement.

Hezbollah acknowledged the death of Naim, saying in a statement that he was killed “on the road of Jerusalem”. This phrase is used by the group to describe those killed in the ongoing confrontation with the IDF. The statement didn’t describe Naim as a commander, however.

Recent Israeli strikes on Syria and Lebanon have failed to deter Hezbollah. In addition to the attacks on the IDF’s 91s Division headquarters and the Jal al-Alam site, the group fired two salvos of rockets at the Zabdin barracks and targeted gatherings of Israeli troops at Hadab Yaron and Hunen Castle along the border with Lebanon. In four separate statements, the group said these attacks were carried out in support of Gaza.

In addition, Hezbollah’s Military Media released video footage documenting a recent rocket attack on the northern Israeli settlement of Kiryat Shmona and a missile strike that targeted an IDF post in the border area of Harsh Ramim.

The clashes between Hezbollah and the IDF have so far resulted in eight civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of at least ten IDF soldiers and reservists. On the Lebanese side, more than 300 people have been killed, including 246 fighters of Hezbollah -some of whom killed in strikes on Syria- and at least 60 civilians.

The Israeli escalation will certainly be met with a fierce response from Hezbollah and its allies. The confrontation on the Lebanese-Israeli border will not likely end before the war in Gaza is over.

Source @South Front