JERUSALEM — Israel’s northern border lurched closer to open conflict overnight after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a series of pre-dawn airstrikes on what it described as Hezbollah observation posts and weapons depots in southern Lebanon.
The strikes followed a volley of more than two dozen rockets fired from Lebanese territory into the western Galilee on Sunday evening, according to the IDF. Two Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded and a civilian home in Kiryat Shmona was damaged. Lebanese security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media, said at least six Hezbollah fighters were killed in the retaliatory raids near the towns of Bint Jbeil and Maroun al-Ras.
“We hold Hezbollah and its patron Iran fully responsible for this aggression,” Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters in Tel Aviv, alleging that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) personnel stationed in Syria helped coordinate the rocket fire. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television claimed responsibility for the barrage but denied any Iranian involvement, saying it was “a Lebanese response to repeated Israeli violations of our sovereignty.”
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) confirmed that artillery and air activity from both sides continued “well past midnight” and urged “maximum restraint.” A UNIFIL spokesperson said peacekeepers were in contact with both militaries in an effort to de-escalate.
Tensions along the so-called Blue Line have risen sharply since the start of the Gaza war last October, with cross-border incidents occurring almost daily. Analysts note that while exchanges have largely been contained to a few kilometres on either side of the frontier, the scale of Sunday’s rocket salvo was the largest since Israel’s 2006 war with Hezbollah.
“Any miscalculation now could drag Iran directly into the theatre or prompt Israel to expand its campaign into Syria,” warned Maya Yacoub, a Beirut-based security analyst.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet early Monday. A senior Israeli official, speaking after the meeting, said additional “pre-emptive actions” were possible if Hezbollah did not pull back its elite Radwan units from the border area. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani rejected Israel’s accusations as “baseless pretexts for continued aggression.”
Regional diplomats told SourceRated that French and U.S. envoys are pressing both Jerusalem and Beirut to accept a proposal that would see Hezbollah forces redeployed north of the Litani River in exchange for a halt to Israeli overflights. The plan mirrors the arrangement outlined in UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 conflict but has never been fully implemented.
With Ramadan approaching and cease-fire negotiations in Gaza stalled, several Western officials fear the Lebanese front could become the flashpoint that pulls Iran and Israel into direct confrontation—an escalation that could reverberate across the wider Middle East.