Israel and Hezbollah trade blows as tensions simmer

[Pelican Press 0]

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******* and Hezbollah trade blows as tensions simmer

******* says it has carried out an air strike against what it said was a “military structure” used by the armed group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese health ministry said four people were ******* in the strike on a house in the town of Maifadoun, around 30km from the ******** border.

Security sources told the AFP news agency that the four men were Hezbollah fighters. In an apparent response, the group launched drone strikes on towns in northern *******, injuring two people.

It comes amid increasing tensions between ******* and Hezbollah, and with Iran which backs the group.

Last week, an ******** air strike ******* senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut, in what ******** officials called an “intelligence-based elimination”.

******** officials say he was responsible for a rocket ******* on the ********-occupied Golan Heights last month which ******* 12 children and teenagers. Hezbollah has denied any involvement in that *******.

Hours after Shukr was assassinated, the ****** political leader Ismail Haniyeh was ******* in the Iranian capital Tehran – Iran blamed the ******* on *******.

Hezbollah and Iran have vowed to retaliate over the deaths, sparking fears that the ****-for-tat blows could ignite a broader regional conflict.

Several countries, including the US, have urged citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible. The country’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that he was working to ensure that Hezbollah did not trigger a major escalation with its response to Shukr’s ******.

The ******** ******* on Maifadoun was carried out by fighter jets, and was guided by intelligence agencies, the ******** Defense Forces said in a statement posted to social media. Officers from the internal security agency Shin Bet and military intelligence agency Aman provided assistance to the military.

In response, Hezbollah fired what it called a “swarm” of drones at *******, injuring two people in the northern town of Mazra’a. But a source in the group told the Reuters news agency that the ******* was not part of its response to the ****** of Shukr.

US President Joe Biden met his senior national security team on Monday as concerns of a retaliatory ******* on ******* grew.

Mr Biden said he had been briefed on preparations to support ******* should it be attacked, while Secretary of State Antony Blinken said officials were working “around the clock” to prevent an escalation.

The ******* Nations’ rights chief Volker Turk called on “all parties, along with those states with influence, to act urgently to de-escalate what has become a very precarious situation”.

Elsewhere, several US military personnel have been injured in a strike on a base in Iraq. The rocket ***** on the Ain al-Assed base is the latest in a series of attacks on the facility, which hosts ********* forces fighting the Islamic State group.

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#******* #Hezbollah #trade #blows #tensions #simmer

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