Hezbollah Launches Rockets at Israeli-Occupied Golan Heights

Hezbollah, a group based in Lebanon, attacked residential areas in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday with a flurry of more than fifty missiles. An attack during which a thirty-year-old male suffered moderate shrapnel injuries was treated by emergency personnel. A possible gas explosion was also prevented by firefighters when one of the targeted residences caught fire. Hezbollah asserted that the incident was retaliation for an Israeli airstrike that had been carried out in Lebanon the previous evening, which had left one person dead and nineteen injured. Hezbollah fired more than 200 rockets into Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for an Israeli attack on a weapons store around 80 kilometres from the border. This marked a major uptick in the regular hostilities.

Israel’s war with Hezbollah’s partner, Hamas, in the Gaza Strip has resulted in regular gunfire between Israel and Hezbollah for more than a year. Over 500 individuals have died in Lebanon as a result of these clashes, mostly militants but also about 100 civilians and noncombatants. As a result of the exchanges, 26 civilians and 23 troops have died in Israel.

The incident took place one day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had diplomatic talks with Qatar and Egypt in an effort to mediate a cease-fire in the continuing Gaza conflict.

Although both sides acknowledged that there were still challenges to be solved, Hamas released a statement criticising the most recent plan as a reversal of earlier accords and accusing the United States of agreeing to new demands from Israel.

There is still disagreement over Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, which it took from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war. The Golan is seen by the international community as occupied Syrian land, although only the United States accepts Israel’s annexation.