Missile strike escalates Israeli conflict with Hezbollah terrorists

A guided missile attack on Thursday by Iran-backed Hezbollah killed a 60-year-old farmer near Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, Israel state media reported. The Israeli government also on Thursday released footage of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to soldiers. He said that if the Lebanon-based terror group started a full war with Israel, Lebanon’s capital city of Beirut would receive the same devastation as Gaza. The day before the missile strike, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had warned the nearly 80,000 citizens evacuated from northern Israel not to return home.

How is Israel responding to the lone attack? The Israeli military returned fire with air and tank strikes, targeting rocket launch sites, observation posts, and other Hezbollah infrastructure. Thursday’s strike is hardly the first attack from Hezbollah since the war with Hamas began on Oct. 7. The Times of Israel reports “constant Hezbollah-led attacks” along Israel’s northern border. Israel has reported 10 casualties from the skirmishes, including four civilians, while Hezbollah has reported 79 casualties from clashes with Israel on Lebanon’s southern border. The Lebanese government has filed a complaint with the United Nations about civilians killed during Israeli attacks on Hezbollah. 

Dig deeper: Read Jill Nelson’s report for WORLD Magazine on the history of radical Islamic terror groups targeting Israel.