Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire across Lebanon border amid alarm over Gaza war spillover
- Hezbollah hit a key Israeli observation post with 62 rockets as a ‘preliminary response’ to the killing of Hamas’ deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri, as Israel retaliated by striking a ‘terrorist cell’
- Top US and EU officials begin new push to contain the war, stressing the need to work towards broader, lasting regional peace and keep diplomatic channels open
Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah group said on Saturday it had fired rockets at Israel and its arch-foe said it had struck a “terrorist cell” in retaliation, as top US and EU diplomats visited the region to seek ways to halt spillover from the war.
Fighting also raged on inside Gaza, especially in and near the southern city of Khan Younis, where the Israeli military said it killed three members of the militant Palestinian Hamas group which has run the densely populated coastal strip.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell were both in the region on separate diplomatic missions to try to quell spillover from the three-month-old Gaza war into Lebanon, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and Red Sea shipping lanes.
Israel and Hezbollah often trade fire across the Lebanese border, the West Bank is seething with emotion and the Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen seem determined to continue attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes until Israel stops bombarding Gaza.
Rocket sirens resounded across northern Israel early on Saturday when the Israeli military said some 40 “launches” from Lebanon towards the area of Meron were identified.