Hezbollah fires missiles at Israel

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have reported that missiles were fired from Lebanese territory towards northern areas of Israel.

Source: Reuters; IDF; The Times of Israel

Details: The IDF reported the missile launches from Lebanon had triggered air-raid warnings in several areas in northern Israel.

The IDF said in a subsequent statement that its air defence forces intercepted one missile. The remaining projectiles fell in uninhabited open areas, causing no damage to civilian infrastructure.

Update: The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack.

The group said that was "revenge for the blood of the Supreme Leader of the Muslims, Ali Khamenei".

Hezbollah stated that during the attack it had targeted a missile defence facility south of the city of Haifa.

Representatives of the group publicly expressed full solidarity with Iran on Saturday 28 February.

Update: Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has called the missile and drone attack launched from Lebanese territory at Israel an "irresponsible and suspicious act" that puts the country's security at risk.

He said that, whoever is behind these launches, the government will not allow "the country to be dragged into new adventures" and pledged to take steps to identify those responsible.

For reference: Hezbollah is a Shia Muslim group created by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in 1982 and is one of Tehran's main allies in the Middle East.

Hezbollah is both part of Lebanon's political system and a separate armed actor with its own forces, which outmatch Lebanon's official armed forces.

The group has its own faction in parliament and directly influences the formation of the cabinet, the election of president and decisions on security.

Hezbollah has built a system of parallel governance – a network of schools, clinics, municipal services, sharia-style courts and charities that, for many people, replaces Lebanon's weak state.

Background:

• In 2024, Israel and Lebanon, with mediation by the US, signed a ceasefire agreement that ended more than a year of intense confrontation between the IDF and Hezbollah militants.
• During that conflict, the IDF significantly weakened the military potential of the Lebanese group and successfully assassinated its long-time leader Hassan Nasrallah.
• On the morning of 28 February, President Donald Trump announced that the US had launched a large-scale operation against Iran. Israel also carried out strikes.
• Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Mohammad Pakpour, Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), were killed in morning strikes on Iran on 28 February.
• In response to the killing of its leadership, Iran launched massive strikes using ballistic missiles and drones against Israel and against US bases and the territories of US allies in the Middle East, including Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!