Hezbollah responded to an Israeli drone strike earlier Tuesday by launching a flurry of drone attacks against Mount Neria. An Israeli spokesman also reporting drone attacks near Mount Meron and rocket fire against the city of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel.
In addition, Hezbollah rockets were fired against the western Galilee settlement of Tsurial for the first time. Israeli reports are that two Israelis were wounded in the attacks.
The Israeli attack took place in the south Lebanon village of Shaqra, killing one person and wounding several others. The reported drone strike targeted a vehicle in the village that was used to sell candy and snacks to locals.
Israeli warplanes are also reported to have broken the sound barrier over the Lebanese capital city of Beirut, producing two loud booms and rattling nerves. Such incidents are not unheard of, but why Israeli is doing this right now is not clear. Israel did not offer any comments on the matter.
What is clear is that tensions have been rising between Israel and Hezbollah for months, leading to escalatory attacks against one another across the border, with Israel openly threatening to expand the operation into a full-scale invasion of Lebanon.
Hezbollah leaders have sought to downplay the risks of such an invasion, saying they don’t believe Israel is in a position to launch such a war right now with Israel already nine months into a brutal invasion of the Gaza Strip.