Israel drops bombs deep inside Lebanon in response to first-ever Hezbollah airstrike
The Israeli strikes near Sidon come as Hezbollah's attacks have become more sophisticated and are causing more Israeli casualties
Israeli air strikes hit an area deep inside Lebanon, killing three people near the coastal city of Saida (Sidon), Lebanese official media reported on 17 May.
The National News Agency (NNA) said, “Israeli strikes targeted Najjariyeh and Addousiyeh,” two villages about 30 kilometers from the Israeli–Lebanese border, where most Israeli strikes have taken place in the seven-month war.
The NNA did not identify the victims. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that the three victims included two Syrians and a Lebanese man.
An AFP photographer reported the strikes hit a pickup truck in Najjariyeh and an orchard and saw ambulances headed to the area.
Earlier on Friday, Hezbollah launched the first-ever Lebanese airstrike on an Israeli target, using a never-before-seen drone for the operation.
Three Israeli soldiers were injured – with one seriously wounded – in the drone attack.
Hebrew news outlet Channel 13 noted on 16 May that Hezbollah's attacks have become bolder and more sophisticated and are resulting in more Israeli casualties.
On 15 May, Hezbollah targeted Israel's Meron air control base and Pranit barracks in the Galilee with dozens of rockets and missiles.
Hezbollah announced in a statement the same day that it struck the headquarters of the Israeli army's 91st division in the Pranit barracks with Burkan missiles.
Tel Aviv said 60 rockets were fired from Lebanon, causing “minor damage” to the Meron base.
A source told Sputnik that more than 100 rockets were fired at the Meron base and the Pranit barracks, adding that “smoke was seen rising” from the two sites.
Hezbollah fighter Hussein Ibrahim Makki was killed in an Israeli airstrike south of the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on the evening of 14 May.
The assassination on Tuesday evening came after Hezbollah carried out several operations against Israel, including the downing of an Israeli surveillance balloon used against the resistance.
Hezbollah has attacked Israeli military sites daily since 8 October in solidarity with Gaza and in support of the Palestinian resistance. It has vowed to continue doing so until the war in Gaza is brought to an end.
Proposals for de-escalation brought forth by Washington and Paris have continued to fail in pressuring Hezbollah to stop its operations.
“The Lebanon front's first and foremost goal is to contribute to pressuring Israel to stop the war in Gaza,” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on 13 May.