Hezbollah Counter Strike
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Hezbollah counter strike on northern Israel wounds 14 IDF troops Saudi Arabia denies shooting down Iranian missiles during attack Jews oppose retaliatory strikes on Tehran if it offends the United States
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday it launched missiles and drones at a military facility in northern Israel in retaliation for Israeli strikes that killed Hezbollah members, an incident that the Israeli military said left 14 soldiers wounded.
An Israeli soldier looks on at a scene, after it was reported that people were injured, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, near Arab al-Aramashe in northern Israel April 17, 2024. REUTERS/Avi Ohayon
The military said six of the soldiers were in serious condition. It said it “struck the sources of fire” after identifying several anti-tank missile and drone launches from Lebanon towards the Bedouin village of Arab al-Aramshe.
The Israeli Ynet news site said the soldiers were in a community centre in the village.
On Tuesday, Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed three people, including a Hezbollah field commander, Lebanese security sources said.
Israeli forces and Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah have been exchanging fire for over six months in parallel to the Gaza war, in the most serious hostilities since they fought a major war in 2006.
Later on Wednesday, Israel’s air force said its fighter jets struck Hezbollah infrastructure north of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, reaching beyond the southern border region where Israel has focused most of its strikes.
The fighting has fuelled concern about the risk of further escalation. Those concerns have mounted following Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel, with hundreds of explosive drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles launched on Saturday night, to which Israeli officials have vowed to respond.
At least 370 Lebanese, including more than 240 Hezbollah fighters and 68 civilians, have been killed in the fighting since October 7. Eighteen Israelis, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed.
Saudi Arabia dismissed reports about its alleged participation in defending Israel from the Iranian strikes over the weekend.
The claims were originally circulated by Israeli public broadcaster Kan and a fake website purporting to be an official outlet of the Saudi royal family. Riyadh, however, has reportedly said no official websites provided such information and the country did not participate in the interception of the drones and missiles launched by Tehran.
“There is no official website that published a statement about Saudi participation in intercepting attacks against Israel,”informed sources told Al Arabiya on Monday.
According to the claims circulated by the fake website, “a source from the Saudi royal family, who prefers anonymity,” in their response to a report by Kan, had “subtly acknowledged” the kingdom’s participation in repelling the Iranian attack.
The ‘source’ also bluntly accused Tehran of instigating the conflict in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, claiming it was a “deliberate attempt to unravel the progress” in repairing ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. © Royal Court of Saudi Arabia/Getty Images
Most Israelis oppose a retaliatory strike on Iran that could alienate their country’s allies, a recent poll has found. Several media outlets have reported in recent days that US President Joe Biden advised the Netanyahu government against taking military action against Tehran in response to the latter’s massive aerial bombardment over the weekend.
According to Israel, Iran launched several hundred missiles and explosive-laden drones late on Saturday; the Israeli military claims to have shot down almost all of them. Iran, in turn, has announced that it managed to strike several military installations.
Tehran has framed the attack as retribution for the death of seven high-ranking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officers, who lost their lives when an alleged Israeli airstrike hit Iran’s consulate in Damascus on April 1.
On Tuesday, Hebrew University published the findings of its survey, which it had conducted over the previous two days online and by phone among 1,466 Israelis.
Israeli war cabinet meeting, Tel Aviv, Israel, April 14, 2024 © Getty Images / Israeli Ministry of Defense / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
Most of the respondents (74%) spoke out against any military response to Iran’s recent bombardment “if it undermines Israel’s security alliance with its allies.”
More than half of the people polled also said that Israel “should respond positively to political and military demands from its allies” in order to “ensure a sustainable defense system over time.”
Speaking to reporters during his official visit to Israel on Wednesday, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said “it’s clear the Israelis are making a decision to act.”
He expressed hope that Israel’s response would be executed in a “way that does as little to escalate this as possible.”
Earlier this week, ABC News, citing anonymous Biden administration officials, claimed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had spoken by phone with his Israeli colleague, Yoav Gallant, telling the latter that Washington would not help its ally in any offensive military operation against Tehran.
The Israeli outlet Mako reported on Monday evening that Israel’s retaliation would need to receive the green light from the US and be in line with rules set by Washington, so as not to “degenerate the region into a war.”
Around the same time, the New York Times alleged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had called off immediate retaliatory strikes after speaking with US President Joe Biden by phone on Saturday night.
On Sunday, Iran’s chief of staff of the armed forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri warned that the Islamic Republic would unleash a “much more extensive” attack on Israel, should the latter conduct military strikes on Iran.
Source X/Telegram/RT/Reuters
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