PM Bennett: We won’t tolerate rocket fire from Lebanon

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on Tuesday that Israel would not tolerate rocket fire from Lebanon, a country that is on the verge of collapse, after two rockets were fired early in the morning.

“I say this sharply and clearly: We will not allow harm to Israel’s sovereignty and security. Whoever tries to harm us will pay a painful price,” Bennett said during a visit to the Galilee town of Ma’alot-Tarshiha several hours after the rocketfire.

“Lebanon is on the verge of collapse, like any country in which Iran bases itself.Its citizens were taken hostage by [Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei and [Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan] Nasrallah for the sake of Iranian interests,” he said, adding that “this is unfortunate, but we will not accept a spillover of the situation in Lebanon into Israel.”

The two rockets were fired at northern Israeli from Lebanon at around 4AM Tuesday morning, setting off incoming rocket sirens in communities along the border including Rosh Hanikra, Shlomi, Kabri and Hanita.

One rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system and the other struck an open field. There were no injuries or damage; the IDF said that there were no special instructions for residents. The military said it responded with tank shells toward the Wadi Hamoul valley from where the rockets had been fired.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Lebanon was responsible for the rocket fire.

“The one responsible for the night shooting is the Lebanese state, which allows terrorist acts from inside its territory. The State of Israel will act in the face of any threat to its sovereignty and its citizens and will respond in accordance with its interests, at the relevant time and place.”

Speaking later at Tel Aviv University’s Cyber Week, Gantz said that Israel wants to see a “prosperous, peaceful and stable Lebanon” but that the situation is worsening because of Hezbollah and other terror groups acting against the interests of Lebanese citizens. 

“Israel extended a helping hand and offered humanitarian aid to Lebanon, yet every security threat will be met with an ‘iron fist’ from the same hand that was extended,” he said. 

The attack came several hours after clashes on the Temple Mount between Israel Police and Muslim protesters on the Jewish holiday of Tisha Ba’av and ahead of Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. 

The rocket fire also came a year after a junior Hezbollah operative was killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria, an attack that Hezbollah has vowed it would respond to. 

In May, during Operation Guardian of the Walls, a dozen rockets were fired into Israel from the same area in Lebanon, causing several people to be injured while running for shelter. 

For the first time since the Second Lebanon War in 2006, incoming rocket sirens were activated in the southern Galilee region, as well as the Haifa suburbs of Kiryat Bialik and Kiryat Motzkin after four rockets were fired.

Several days earlier, six rockets were fired from Rashaya Al Foukhar, north of Kfar Choub in southern Lebanon. All fell short of the border and landed inside Lebanese territory, the army said – adding, however, that one of the rockets may have crossed into Israel.

The IDF fired back toward the source of the rocket launch in Lebanon with some 22 tank and artillery shells.

Several days earlier, six rockets were fired from Rashaya Al Foukhar, north of Kfar Choub in southern Lebanon. All fell short of the border and landed inside Lebanese territory and the IDF fired back toward the source of the rocket launch in Lebanon with some 22 tank and artillery shells.

It is still unclear who fired the rockets early on Tuesday morning but the IDF believes it to be the same Palestinian militants who fired the rockets in May. Hezbollah is not suspected to be behind the rocket fire.

According to Lebanon’s MTV News, the Lebanese army sad that three Grad rocket launchers were found in the al-Qulaylah area, “one of them with a missile prepared for firing, and was then disabled by specialized army units.”

United Nations peacekeepers also issued a statement saying that “UNIFIL radar monitored the firing of rockets from the northwest area of Qalila towards Israel and then spotted artillery fire from the Israeli army.”

UNIFIL, which opened an investigation into the incident, said that it is “in direct contact with the Lebanese army and Israel” and is “urging maximum restraint to avoid further escalation.” 

In a recent interview, Col. Raz Haimlich, Commander of the Artillery Corps Fire Brigade 411th “Keren” Battalion, told The Jerusalem Post that with the Lebanese economy in free-fall, the IDF is concerned that there may be an increase of incidents along its northern border.

“The Lebanese economy is not good, and that can lead to things happening on the border,” he said.

Haimlich’s battalion has responded to several incidents along the Lebanese border including during the fighting with Gaza when a number of Lebanese rioters damaged the border fence and crossed into Israel near the community of Metula. 

The rocket fire on Tuesday came shortly after Israel was alleged to have struck targets near al-Safirah, in Syria’s Aleppo province. According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the strikes targeted a weapons depot belonging to Iranian-backed militias inside Syrian Army bases.