Rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel overnight in a new escalation early Tuesday morning. The last time rockets were fired from Israel's northern neighbor was during the recent Gaza war when four were fired on May 19. Sirens sounded in the western Galilee region at around 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning and two rockets were detected.
Although the Iron Dome system shot down one of the rockets and the other fell in an open area, the attack raises questions about whether rocket fire from Lebanon will now increase and become an accepted norm. The IDF did respond to the fire using artillery, it said. No special Home Front Command guidelines have been issued. This appears to mean the assessment is that there won’t be new barrages soon and it isn’t part of a major attack – and that more retaliation may not take place so as not to increase tensions.
Back in May, during the fighting in Gaza, there were several incidents in the North. Besides the four rockets fired on May 19, several of which traveled many kilometers into Israel, there was also an incident on May 17 when sirens sounded in Kibbutz Misgav Am and six failed launches were detected. In response, IDF artillery forces fired toward the launch sources. On May 13, the IDF also said “three rockets were fired from Lebanon into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of the Galilee. According to protocol, no sirens were sounded.”
In addition, there have been other incidents. The IDF has had to deal with drone threats from the North, such as a drone that entered Israel in May from Syria, and also attempts to damage the security fence and a smuggling operation that was thwarted in early July.
The new rocket fire came hours after Syrian regime media reported airstrikes in Safirah in northern Syria, an area near Aleppo which is thought to be a missile facility. Syrian air defenses were activated as a result.
“I think the rocket launches from Lebanon tonight did not take place because of the international situation in Lebanon, which is collapsing [economically] but due to the Hamas-Iran-Hezbollah alliance and in the wake of the Guardian of the Walls [operation in Gaza in May],” according to Sarit Zehavi, CEO and founder of the Alma Research and Education Center, which focuses on security challenges on the northern border.
In the interview, she says that during the May fighting, groups in the region that are linked to Iran and often call themselves a “resistance axis” said they will join in fighting against Israel based on the situation in Jerusalem. This could include Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and militias in Syria and Iraq. “They are all subordinate to the Iranians, who created this campaign,” she said.
She notes that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah met the leader of Hamas recently in late June. She says the symbols at that meeting, like the Dome of Rock in Jerusalem, indicate their view of the region and their decision to confront Israel. This means the rocket launches from Lebanon may be a “new reality.”
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