New clashes on Israel-Lebanon border after Hezbollah fires missile

BEIRUT — Clashes erupted again Tuesday on the border between Lebanon and Israel, where Israeli forces and armed groups in Lebanon have engaged in a series of low-level skirmishes since the outbreak of the latest war in Gaza.

An anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon landed in the town of Metula in northern Israel on Tuesday, injuring three people, according to the Ziv Medical Center in Safed.

Hours later, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah issued a statement claiming responsibility for the missiles. It was not clear if the injured were civilians or soldiers, but Israel has ordered civilians to evacuate the area near the border with Lebanon.

Israel responded by striking several areas along the border in southern Lebanon with artillery fire and white phosphorus, the state-run National News Agency in Lebanon reported. The Israeli military said its tanks fired back into Lebanon after an anti-tank missile was launched across the border.

Two more anti-tank missiles were fired from Lebanon at the Yiftah kibbutz in northern Israel without any casualties, the Israeli army said, adding that it had shelled Hezbollah positions in response.

There are fears that Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups in the region may escalate their fight with Israel to support Hamas in case of a ground incursion into Gaza. So far, artillery exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel have been limited to several towns along the border.

Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military said it killed four terrorists who had attempted to plant explosive devices on a border wall between Israel and Lebanon. A video from an Israeli army reconnaissance drone showed the terrorists near the separation wall as they were targeted, causing an explosion.

The Lebanese Red Cross said in a statement that it was en route to collect four bodies killed in Israeli strikes over the southern border town of Alma al-Shaab. A spokesperson declined to provide more details.

Last week, terrorists from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in southern Lebanon crossed the border and clashed with Israeli troops, killing three and wounding several others. The terrorists were killed, and the Palestinian group held funerals for two of them.

Israel has threatened that if Hezbollah opens a new front, all of Lebanon will suffer the consequences.

The escalating rhetoric between Hezbollah and Israel has led to a scramble of diplomacy aimed at heading off a larger conflict.

Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakkan Fidan, who arrived in Beirut on Tuesday, told reporters after meeting with his Lebanese counterpart that the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas “might lead to greater wars.”

“We are doing all we can so that the war does not spread to other countries,” he said.