Israel’s military and Hezbollah exchange fire along the tense Lebanon-Israel border

By ABBY SEWELL and BASSEM MROUE Associated Press

1 year ago

Black smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. The Lebanon-Israel border has been the site of regular clashes between Israeli forces on one side and Hezbollah and Palestinian armed groups on the other since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People carry the coffin of Hezbollah fighter, Ali Ibrahim Rmeiti, who was killed by Israeli shelling, during his funeral procession in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Black smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab, a Lebanese border village with Israel in south Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. The Lebanon-Israel border has been the site of regular clashes between Israeli forces on one side and Hezbollah and Palestinian armed groups on the other since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Israeli warplanes conducted airstrikes along the border with Lebanon Saturday as the Hezbollah terrorist group attacked several Israeli army posts, including one that was struck with two large rockets.

The escalation came a day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said it is already engaged in unprecedented fighting along the Lebanon-Israel border. He threatened a further escalation as Israel’s war in Gaza with Hamas, Hezbollah’s ally, nears the one-month mark.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Israeli warplanes, tanks and artillery fired toward the source of fire on the Lebanese side of the border and also targeted some Hezbollah arms depots, infrastructure and posts used by Hezbollah.

Exchanges of gunfire have been on the rise along the Lebanon-Israel border following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack that killed more than 1,400 civilians and troops in southern Israel. Another 240 people were taken hostage.

The Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV network reported that Hezbollah fired Saturday two Burkan rockets, which carry heavy warheads, at an Israeli post known in Lebanon as Jal al-Allam. A Lebanese security official confirmed the report of Burkan rockets being used for the first time.

On the outskirts of the village of Rmeish, in a rugged area along the border, an Israeli airstrike caused thick gray smoke. Artillery shelling could be heard from a distance.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported airstrikes around several other border villages, including Labbouneh and Hibarieh.

On Saturday Hezbollah said one of its fighters was killed along the border raising the group’s total death toll since the fighting began to 56. Ten civilians, including a Reuters journalist, were also killed.