A day after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah made a speech in which he threatened Israel but did not move to escalate fighting along the Lebanon border, the Israel Defense Forces continued to clash with the terror group on Saturday.
Rocket sirens sounded Saturday morning in a number of Israeli communities in the Upper Galilee, close to the Lebanon border. A number of rockets were also fired from Lebanon at the Rosh Hanikra area. There were no casualties in the incidents, with most border area communities having evacuated. No damage was reported either.
The alerts came amid repeated rocket and missile attacks by Hezbollah and allied Palestinian terror factions from southern Lebanon on northern Israel.
The army said it struck two cells of terror operatives in southern Lebanon, as they planned to open fire at Israel, possibly with anti-tank guided missiles. The IDF said it also struck an observation post belonging to Hezbollah in the area.
Also on Saturday, the military said it struck Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon in response to the rocket fire.
The targets included infrastructure, rocket storage sites and compounds used by the terror group, sharing footage from the sorties.
Clips shared online showed massive plumes of smoke near the Lebanese village of Rmeish.
Meanwhile, the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV network reported that Hezbollah fired two Burkan rockets, which carry heavy warheads, at an Israeli post. A Lebanese security official confirmed the report of Burkan rockets being used for the first time.
The rockets, whose name means “volcano” in Arabic, were previously used by Hezbollah and Syrian government forces to destroy the fortifications of Syrian opposition fighters. They are one of a number of types of rockets and missiles that the heavily armed Hezbollah has in its arsenal.
Israel made no comment on the reports, and there did not appear to have been any casualties.
Visiting the north Saturday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Nasrallah against “making a mistake.”
“We are on the defensive in the north and attacking with full force in the Gaza Strip, this is our priority,” Gallant said in remarks provided by his office. “We are not interested in getting into a war in the north, but we are ready for any task. The Air Force maintains most of its strength for the Lebanese arena, against Hezbollah.”
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