Beirut/Tel Aviv, Aug. 6, (dpa/GNA) – At least 15 rockets were fired at Israeli posts in Shebaa Farms from south Lebanon on Friday, in the latest cross-border attack from the area, a Lebanese security source said.
A Lebanese security source said the rockets were fired from Al-Habbariyeh valley, which is close to the border of Shebaa.
The Israeli army reported there were 10 rockets fired and that most of them had been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, while the rest landed in open areas.
The army attacked the sites which had fired the missiles, it said in a statement.
No casualties were initially reported, according to the rescue service.
Israeli army spokesperson Amnon Shefler said, “our understanding is, Hezbollah deliberately aimed for open area to not escalate the situation.”
He added that Hezbollah just wanted to show that they are in control of the south of Lebanon.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility, saying it had fired rockets into “open areas” in the Shebaa Farms, saying the attack was in response to Thursday’s airstrikes on southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah in a statement said that “at 11.15 am [local time] this Friday, and in response to the Israeli air raids (…) the groups of the martyr Ali Kamel Mohsen and the martyr Muhammad Qasim Tahan in the Islamic Resistance [Hezbollah] shelled open lands for the Israeli occupation in Shebaa farms with tens of 122mm rockets.”
Meanwhile, a video circulating on Lebanese media showed some angry Lebanese residents from the village of Shawyaa, in the Hasbaya district, intercepting a truck with a rocket launcher shortly after the rockets were fired with four men dressed in military fatigues.
According to a Lebanese security source, the truck and the men who were in the vehicle were handed over to the Lebanese army.
Hezbollah, in a second statement, confirmed that its men and truck had been intercepted by villagers after firing the rockets from a nearby location.
“The Islamic Resistance [Hezbollah] was, and will remain very careful for the safety of the people,” the statement said.
It added that it will not expose any harm to the people during its resistance work and that they are the ones who are “paying blood” to preserve the security of Lebanon and its citizens.
The same security source said earlier that Israeli artillery immediately responded by shelling the valley of Habbariyeh, as Israeli warplanes flew low over the area.
The United Nations interim forces in Southern Lebanon (UNIFIL), which monitors the border between Lebanon and Israel, said it “detected rocket launches from Lebanon and return artillery fire by Israel.”
“This is a very serious situation and we urge all parties to cease fire,” UNIFIL said in a statement.
GNA