Hezbollah hits Israeli base with drones in response to Lebanon killings, says it does not want wider Gaza war
- Hezbollah launched explosive drones at an army base in northern Israel, declaring the attack part of its response to recent Israeli assassinations in Lebanon
- The strikes marked the first time Hezbollah had attacked Safed, some 14km from the border with Israel
Hezbollah attacked an Israeli army base with explosive drones deployed from Lebanon on Tuesday, hitting the position for the first time in what the Iran-backed group declared part of its response to recent Israeli assassinations in Lebanon.
Also on Tuesday, an Israeli attack killed three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon, sources familiar with the group’s operations said, adding to the death toll among its forces from more than three months of hostilities with Israel.
Israel and Hezbollah have been waging their deadliest hostilities in 17 years since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on October 7.
The violence has forced tens of thousands of people to flee both sides of the Lebanon-Israel border and raised fears the conflict could spiral.
Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem, in a televised speech, said his group did not want to expand the war from Lebanon, “but if Israel expands [it], the response is inevitable to the maximum extent required to deter Israel”.
Hezbollah said its drones had hit the Israeli army headquarters in Safed, northern Israel, as part of retaliation for last week’s assassination of deputy Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut, and in response to Monday’s killing of Hezbollah commander Wissam Tawil, the most senior Hezbollah officer to die in the fighting.
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Hamas deputy leader killed in apparent Israeli drone strike in Lebanon
Thousands of mourners attended his funeral in south Lebanon, his coffin draped in Hezbollah’s yellow flag as it was carried through the streets of his village.