Three rescue workers were killed today in the southern Lebanese border town of Adeisseh when they were targeted by an Israeli air strike. The three were with the rescue force “al-Hayaa,” which is affiliated with Hezbollah.
Israel did not comment on the deaths, but earlier in the day reported attacking several buildings in southern Lebanon. They also said they were shelling launch sites that were the source of fire into northern Israel.
The Lebanese government confirmed the deaths of the rescue workers, saying that brought the total number of emergency workers and paramedics killed to seven since the beginning of Israeli attacks in the area five months ago.
On the Israeli side of the border, an anti-tank missile was reported to have hit an orchard, killing a foreign worker and wounding seven others, two of them seriously. The orchard was near the border village of Margaliot.
This comes just days after a series of Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon which killed at least seven Hezbollah members. Among the slain was the grandson of Hassan Nasrallah, a Hezbollah leader.
The escalation of Israeli attacks comes amid reports that a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip could be in the offing. Hezbollah has said they will comply with any ceasefire reached in Gaza, though Israeli officials have presented calm in Gaza as an opportunity to further escalate fighting in Lebanon.
The US initially warned against an Israeli war in Lebanon on the grounds that it would spread their forces too thin, trying to manage a northern campaign at the same time as an open-ended Gaza invasion. A ceasefire might prove an opportunity for Israel to disprove the US strategic warning.
At the same time, the Biden Administration is increasingly concerned that Israel is going to start another regional war, even as the international community tries to broker deals with the Lebanese government to prevent it.
Israel would present an offensive as not just allowing tens of thousands of displaced northerners to return home, but also to force Hezbollah away from the border region. Negotiations on a deal with Lebanon want to see Hezbollah’s border presence replaced with the Lebanese security forces.