Was the response proportional or wise?
The strike on a building came after Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes in Lebanon on Saturday, its most intense aerial assault on the country in four months. In total, six people were killed, including a child, and 28 injured, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
The wave of Israeli airstrikes was triggered by the launching of three rockets from Lebanon by unknown groups, which were intercepted by the Israeli air force.
In a statement on Saturday afternoon, Hezbollah denied any involvement in the rocket attacks and stressed its commitment to the ceasefire agreement. It added that Israeli claims that it was behind the strikes were “merely a pretext for continued attacks on Lebanon”.
A variety of Palestinian factions, as well as other armed groups, operate in southern Lebanon and not all are under Hezbollah’s command. Both the Israeli military and the Lebanese Ministry of Defence said it was investigating who could have fired the rockets.
The Lebanese army said it found and dismantled what it called three “primitive rocket launchers” in south Lebanon after the rocket fire towards Israel. Pictures released by the army showed fragments of bombs and three wooden posts dug into the earth, seemingly used in the launching of the rockets.
Lebanon’s minister of defence, Michel Menassa, said the country was “continuing its diplomatic, political and military efforts to ensure Lebanon’s sovereignty”
(guardian news)
