As Israel preps Gaza invasion, Hezbollah attacks in north

Iran-backed Hezbollah, one of the most powerful militia groups in the Middle East, said it fired missiles at an Israeli military post in Lishtura in Upper Galilee. An hour later, it said it targeted another outpost in Laheb with “live ammunition” and destroyed a tank.

The attacks were allegedly in retaliation for last week’s killing of two Lebanese nationals and a Reuters journalist at Shaba Farms near the southern village of Alma Shaib. The Shab’a farms are land claimed by both Lebanon and Syria and were seized by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war.

One Israeli was killed and three others were injured in the initial attack in Shtulla, according to Israeli rescue services. The Israeli army said it struck Hezbollah military targets and blocked areas up to 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Lebanese border in response to three anti-tank missile attacks.

Since October 8, Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire on the border. A day earlier, militants from the Palestinian militant group Hamas infiltrated into Israeli territory by land, sea and air and launched an unprecedented attack, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping others.

The conflict around Lebanon raises the possibility of a wider escalation in the regional conflict as Israel prepares for a ground operation in Gaza that it says will “eliminate” Hamas, which the United States and Europe label a terrorist group. Israeli air strikes in the besieged Gaza Strip have killed more than 2,300 people and injured thousands more in recent days, according to local officials.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television channel broadcast footage from a hilltop known as the Al-Raheb outpost, saying militants had raised the group’s flag. Israel has not confirmed that the position is held by a member of Hezbollah. Israel also shelled some Lebanese villages on the border, according to local reports.

—With assistance from Garit Alstein