Hezbollah Launches Rocket Barrage at Israeli-Occupied Golan

Hezbollah launched a series of rocket attacks targeting an Israeli military base in the Golan Heights, an area under Israeli control, this Friday. This aggressive move came shortly after an earlier assault on northern Israel and coincided with the visit of Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to Beirut. The attacks followed Syria’s announcement that it had intercepted two drones near Damascus, which had reportedly entered from the Golan Heights.

In a detailed statement, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for bombarding an Israeli military facility in the Golan with multiple Katyusha rockets. This followed their earlier claims of targeting Israeli surveillance equipment and a tank.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas, which began on October 7, has intensified, with Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, and Israel exchanging fire almost daily across the Lebanon-Israel border.

Hezbollah’s recent rocket barrage towards northern Israel was a retaliatory act for an Israeli drone attack that severely injured a Hezbollah leader in Nabatiyeh, a city in southern Lebanon.

In response, the Israeli military conducted airstrikes targeting Hezbollah operatives in Maroun al-Ras and hit military installations in two other towns in southern Lebanon. Reports from Lebanon’s official news agency confirmed the Israeli strikes in several southern locations.

The situation has prompted diplomatic efforts from Britain, France, and Germany, with their foreign ministers visiting Beirut to advocate for de-escalation along the Lebanon-Israel frontier. There’s a growing concern that the ongoing conflict between Gaza and Israel could escalate into a wider war similar to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

Since the escalation began four months ago, the conflict has resulted in the deaths of at least 228 individuals on the Lebanese side, with the majority being Hezbollah combatants, alongside 27 civilians, as per AFP counts. Israel has reported 15 casualties, including six civilians.

The Golan Heights, a strategic plateau, was captured by Israel from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967 and later annexed, a move that has not been recognized internationally.