‘Everything in due time,’ says Hezbollah representative on escalating the conflict with Israel
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At least four people were killed in an Israeli strike on a car in the southern Lebanese village of Baflieh on Thursday morning, the latest in a string of attacks on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon front this week.
Lebanon’s powerful armed group Hezbollah acknowledged the death of two fighters who died “in defence of south Lebanon, in an Israeli drone strike in the rear” in Baflieh.
Two passers-by were also killed and another injured, according to the Al Risala Scouts, a civil defence organisation that operates in south Lebanon.
“The two people died within proximity to the car,” a representative told media.
Thursday’s casualties follow the previous day’s deaths:
On Wednesday, Israel acknowledged the death of an Israeli sergeant in a Hezbollah-claimed attack on a military site in Al Malkieh. Meanwhile, five militants were killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
Earlier, two Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah-claimed drone attack on an army position near the Israeli town of Metulla.
The death of the three Israeli soldiers this week brings the military death toll for the northern Israel front to 13, in addition to nine civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly claimed Israel is hiding the true number of its casualties.
In Lebanon, more than 350 people have been killed in the south since the conflict began in October, according to official government figures. At least 73 were civilians while the majority were militants.
The conflict along the Lebanon-Israel frontier has ebbed and flowed in parallel with the war in Gaza, remaining constant but intensifying during key periods. Hezbollah has repeatedly conditioned a ceasefire in Lebanon on a truce in Gaza.
Now, as Israel prepares for an incursion into Rafah – a city sheltering about 1.4 million Palestinians, by the UN’s count – Lebanon’s front has intensified once again.
Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Lebanon-Israel border remain displaced as the war rolls into its eighth month.
As Gaza ceasefire negotiations stall between Israel and Hamas, and a large-scale Israeli military operation on Rafah seems imminent, Lebanon remains on edge.
When asked whether Hezbollah planned to further intensify the conflict with Israel, a representative for the Iran-allied party replied: “Everything in due time.”
Mr Nasrallah has consistently promised to match Israel’s intensity. Despite initiating the conflict in October, Hezbollah has remained committed to its rule of proportionality – seeking to support Hamas without drawing the fragile Lebanese state into full-scale conflict.
“All options are on the table. Our eyes are on Gaza as we fight on the border,” Mr Nasrallah said in a speech in February, directly addressing the Israeli state. “If you widen [the front], we will widen. If you intensify, we will intensify.”
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