Hezbollah claims responsibility for rocket attack on Israel 'in response to air raids'

The Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah admitted that it fired a barrage of rockets toward Israel on August 6 while the Israeli forces retaliated with artillery in a significant escalation between both sides. Marking the third day of attacks along the volatile border with Lebanon, a major Middle East flashpoint where tensions between Israel and Iran often surface. 

The latest round of rocket fire during the early hours of August 6 came "in response to the Israeli air raids" that hit south Lebanon on August 5, Iran-backed Hezbollah said in a statement.

"The Islamic Resistance shelled open territory near positions of Israeli occupation forces in the Shebaa Farms with dozens of rockets," it added.

Notably, Israel has long considered Hezbollah, its most immediate and serious military threat, given the group is backed by Iran and based in Lebanon. Friday's fiery exchanges came a day after Israel's defence minister warned that his country is prepared to strike Iran following a fatal drone strike on an oil tanker at sea that his country conveniently blamed on Tehran.

Israel claimed to have fired back after 19 rockets were launched from Lebanese territory and reported no casualties. Tensions surfaced at a politically volatile time in Israel where a new eight-party coalition is trying to keep the peace on another border under a fragile cease-fire that ended an eleven-day war with the Hamas militant group in Gaza.

Hezbollah says 'dozens' of rockets toward Israel

In a statement, Hezbollah outrightly confirmed to have hit "open fields" in the disputed Shebaa farms area. The group said it fired ten rockets, calling it retaliation for Israeli airstrikes the day before. However, Israel said those airstrikes were retaliation to rocket fire from south of Lebanon in recent days that any group did not claim.

Shebaa Farms is an enclave where the borders of Israel, Lebanon and Syria converge. Israel says it is part of the Golan Heights, which was captured from Syria in 1967. Lebanon and Syria say Shebaa Farms belong to Lebanon, while the UN says the territory is part of Syria.

Retaliating to the previous salvo of cross-border rocket fire, on August 5, Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on Lebanon for the first time since 2014. It has warned repeatedly that it will not allow a power vacuum and a deepening economic crisis in Beirut to undermine security on its northern border. 

The Israeli military said it "views the state of Lebanon as responsible for all actions originating in its territory and warns against further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israel's sovereignty".

Image Credit: AP