JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: Large swaths of northern Israel were engulfed by wild fires set off by rockets launched from Lebanon by the militant group Hezbollah, with rescue teams battling on Monday to get them under control.
White phosphorus bombs dropped by Israel are burning South Lebanon’s forests, olive trees, and farmlands, poisoning the soil, animals, and water.
This is ecocide.
And yet, the ‘international community’ remains silent, as always. pic.twitter.com/HKs3GFE2MF
— sarah (@sahouraxo) June 3, 2024
Many Israelis who live in towns near the Lebanon border evacuated months ago given the escalating fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Israeli media reported several minor injuries and said some houses had caught fire.
Hot and dry weather have made the flames harder to contain.
Israel’s parks authority said earlier on Monday that fires had already covered hundreds of acres. The national fire service said its firefighters were operating late into the night in several spots, including in the town of Kiryat Shmona where they were trying to protect a line of houses.
Police said they closed off roads and were telling residents still in the area to clear out.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Monday it had launched a squadron of drones towards the headquarters of the Israeli military’s Galilee formation in an intensification of cross-border violence between the two adversaries.
While Hezbollah has previously launched drones at Israel during hostilities that began in October, it marked the first time the Iran-backed group had announced firing a squadron of them.
The hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel have rumbled on in parallel with the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, raising concern about the risk of a bigger conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Hezbollah also said it had launched dozens of Katyusha rockets towards Israeli targets in the occupied Golan Heights.
Air raid sirens sounded numerous times across northern Israel, sending residents running for shelter. The Israeli military said it had intercepted one drone from Lebanon carrying explosives, and at least two others fell in northern Israel.
Continuous rocket and drone launches since Sunday have set off massive wild fires in Israel’s north.
The military also said it carried out strikes against Hezbollah compounds and one of its operatives.
Hezbollah said it had fired the explosive drone squadron in response to what it described as an assassination carried out by Israel in the Zrariyeh area some 25 km (15 miles) from the border, where security sources in Lebanon said a Hezbollah member was killed in an Israeli drone strike.
OUT OF CONTROL: Over 20 fires are spreading across the northern Israeli settlements on the border with Lebanon due to yesterday and today's operations by Hezbollah.
Firefighters are trying to extinguish them with difficulty, and a state of emergency has been declared.
Reports… pic.twitter.com/hjNditNmmE
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) June 3, 2024
The group also said it had launched drones on Sunday towards Liman in northern Israel.
Also on Sunday, a drone launched by Hezbollah fell in the Israeli coastal city of Nahariya, causing a fire but no injuries, Israel’s military and local media reported.
Lebanon’s southern border has seen an uptick in hostilities in recent days, with both the Israeli military and Hezbollah striking locations outside the border strip where the exchanges of fire have been concentrated, and with increased intensity.
On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed two civilian men from the town of Houla, where they had stayed throughout the conflict to herd their cattle, security sources and townspeople told Reuters. They were buried on Monday in their hometown.
Israeli warplanes flew low over Beirut on Monday, according to residents.
(REUTERS)
