BEIRUT: Hamas’ armed wing in Lebanon has struck Israel with a rocket salvo in a resumption of the group’s military operations in the country.
The militant group’s wing in Lebanon paused attacks south of the border following the assassination of Saleh Al-Arouri in early January.
The senior Hamas leader and founding commander of the Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam Brigades was killed in an Israeli drone strike on the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh on Jan. 2.
Al-Qassam announced on Wednesday it had targeted Camp Gibor, the headquarters of Israel’s 769th Eastern Brigade, as well as the airport barracks in Beit Hillel, using 40 “Grad” rockets.
The Israeli media reported sirens sounding in Kiryat Shmona, Ma’ayan Baruch, Kfar Yuval, Goshrin and Beit Hillel in the Upper Galilee.
Israeli Army spokesman Avichay Adraee said that 10 of the rockets had struck sites in Israel, while 30 were intercepted. In response, the Israeli military targeted the sources of fire, Adraee added.
Interceptor missiles launched by Israel’s Iron Dome exploded above border villages in the eastern section of southern Lebanon.
Army helicopters evacuated Israelis wounded in the attack to hospitals south of the border, Israeli media reported.
Hezbollah did not announce any military operations against the Israeli Army on Wednesday, after two days of extensive operations.
Meanwhile, Israeli F-15 jets cruised throughout Lebanese airspace.
Political activist Ali Al-Amin told Arab News: “Hezbollah took a decision over a month ago to stop any operations by Hamas and Islamic Jihad from southern Lebanon toward the Israeli Army. It seems now that there is a retreat from this decision. The aim may be to pressure the Americans.”
He added: “The decision to stop Hamas and Islamic Jihad operations was in response to a previous American request to Hezbollah to control the confrontations from the south and prevent their expansion.
“It now seems that there is a need to pressure the American side again to link the truce, if reached in the Gaza Strip, to Lebanon, as the Israeli side had rejected this link and said it would leave the confrontation open in Lebanon after the truce.”
Hezbollah has said it will refuse a ceasefire in southern Lebanon until Hamas accepts a settlement in Gaza.
Israeli jets carried out an airstrike on a home in the border city of Bint Jbeil, targeting a local Hezbollah leader, Ali Wahbi, though there were no reported injuries from the attack.
Jets also struck the Al-Khuraybah area, located between Khiam and Rashaya Al-Fakhar.
Adraee said on X that jets attacked “a weapons depot and military buildings belonging to Hezbollah in Ramyah in southern Lebanon, and a weapons production site for Hezbollah in the area of Khirbet Salim.”
Brig. Gen. Mounir Shehadeh, the former Lebanese government coordinator to UNIFIL, said that Hezbollah has avoided causing civilian casualties in its strikes on strategic targets in Israel.
He added: “Although Hezbollah can launch 1,000 missiles a day, they are not looking for war.
“However, if Israel escalates the conflict, Hezbollah seems prepared to retaliate strongly, potentially altering the region’s landscape.”
Hezbollah’s campaign in support of Gaza, which has lasted 144 days, has seen more than 200 members of the group killed, as well as allied militants and civilians.
The “support war” has also resulted in extensive material damage, with 8,000 homes completely destroyed and 10,000 homes partially destroyed in southern Lebanon.
About 100,000 civilians in Lebanon’s south have also been displaced by the violence.
