The Israeli army conducted airstrikes targeting approximately 10 Hezbollah positions across seven different regions in southern Lebanon overnight. These strikes resulted in the death of one Hezbollah fighter. The army also targeted a Hezbollah weapons storage facility, infrastructure deemed to be used for terrorism, military structures, and a launcher within southern Lebanon.
These strikes were a direct response to a rocket fired from Lebanon that struck a Druze Arab town in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on Saturday, tragically killing 12 children between the ages of 10 and 16. The Druze community, who practice a branch of Shiite Islam, are an Arabic-speaking population present in Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, including the Golan Heights.
On Monday, during a visit to Majdal Shams, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged a “severe response” to the rocket attack. Israel maintains that the rocket responsible for the children’s deaths was an Iranian-made Falaq and was launched by its ally, Hezbollah. While Hezbollah has denied responsibility for firing the rocket, they have claimed multiple rocket launches towards Israel on Saturday.
Since the commencement of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, Israeli forces and Hezbollah have engaged in near-daily clashes along the shared border. These clashes have resulted in the deaths of 22 Israeli soldiers and 24 civilians, including those in the Golan Heights, according to official army figures. On the Lebanese side, an AFP tally reports at least 527 casualties, the majority of whom are fighters. However, the toll also includes at least 104 civilians.
The Gaza war ignited when Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel on October 7, leading to the deaths of 1,197 people, primarily civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom remain captive in Gaza, including 39 the Israeli military considers deceased. Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has claimed the lives of 39,400 people, as reported by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which does not provide a breakdown of civilian and militant casualties.
