Thickening Middle East Tensions... Hezbollah Rocket Attacks on Northern Israel

Israeli Iron Dome Intercepts... Alarms Sound in Some Areas

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lebanon's pro-Iranian militant group Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel. The entire Middle East appears to be engulfed in a thick cloud of war tension.

According to major foreign media including AFP on the 4th, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into northern Israel on the night of the 3rd (local time). According to the Israeli media Times of Israel, these rockets were intercepted by Israel's low-altitude missile defense system, the Iron Dome. During this process, warning sirens sounded in areas such as Kiryat Shmona, which borders Lebanon.

Hezbollah stated in a press release that it fired dozens of Katyusha rockets at Israel. Hezbollah said this attack targeting Beit Hillel was in response to the Israeli military's attacks on southern Lebanon areas Kfar Kila and Deir Siriane. They also claimed that civilians were injured during the Israeli attacks.

With the top political leader of the Palestinian militant faction Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, assassinated in Tehran, Iran, exchanges of fire between the two sides have further heightened tensions in the Middle East. Since Iran has already warned of harsh retaliation against Israel, Iranian proxy forces in the Middle East, including Hezbollah, which was attacked by Israel, could also join the conflict. Notably, unlike Iran, Hezbollah shares a border with Israel.

Hezbollah has already continued armed demonstrations in northern Israel since Hamas's surprise attack on Israel on October 7 last year, under the banner of "supporting Palestine." Israel responded by airstriking Hezbollah facilities throughout Lebanon. On the 31st of last month, Israel attacked Beirut and killed Fuad Shukr, the right-hand man of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.