Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on April 22 claimed responsibility for a drone strike that targeted the coastal town of Haret al-Naameh, just south of the Lebanese capital of Beirut, earlier in the day, killing a prominent member of the Islamic Group.
In a statement, the IDF said that the targeted Islamic Group member, Hussein Izzat Mohammad Atwi, also affiliated with the Hamas Movement, and worked alongside the Palestinian group to advance attacks against Israel.
Atwi was involved in advancing attacks on Israel from Lebanon, in an attempt to harm IDF troops operating near the Lebanese border, the military added, alleging that he was behind rocket fire over the years, and had also directed “terror cells” in the country to launch attacks on Israel, including infiltrations.
He also worked to advance attacks against Israeli targets abroad, according to the IDF, which didn’t elaborating on the claims.
The Islamic Group is the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The group’s military wing, the al-Fajr Forces, has fought alongside Hezbollah and other allies from Lebanon against the IDF after the outbreak of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip in October of 2023.
Separately, two suspected Israeli drone strikes targeted the coastal town of Haniyah, further to the south, killing at least one man.
Video footage posted to social media shows the first strike missing the vehicle, only for the second to hit the man who was driving a few meters away as he attempted to flee.
A ceasefire brokered by the United States last November was supposed to end all clashes on the Israeli-Lebanese border by February 18. Nevertheless, the Israeli military continues to launch strikes against Hezbollah. It also maintains troops at five strategic points in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah condemned both strikes, calling on the Lebanese government to assume its national responsibilities and work to stop Israeli violations.
“The enemy’s persistence in its crimes, under blatant American cover and encouragement, is the result of the failure of the states sponsoring the ceasefire agreement… This only encourages the enemy to continue its brutal rampage without any deterrent,” the group said in a statement.
“This ongoing aggression… requires the Lebanese state to assume its full national responsibilities and emerge from the position of a helpless spectator. It must not be satisfied with ineffective condemnatory statements that have failed to deter the enemy. It must take effective, serious, and urgent steps at all levels and by all available means,” it added.
Despite the IDF’s continued escalation, Hezbollah will not likely respond. Any reaction from the Lebanese side could provide Israel with a pretext to restart the war.
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restart the war? it looks like the israelis never stopped.
jews never stopped their war against the rest of the world. in their own religion non jews (“goy”, ancient hebrew “gowy”, translated as “nations” in the us bible to describe “people who have still a country”) must become cattle (shabbatgoy) or beeing exterminated. the more you study them the more you understand they worship the devil.
i heard very high numbers, around 50 percent of soldiers in the idf are refusing to do their service. if that’s s even close to the real numbers, they’re in pretty bad shape.
imagine what a pickle they’d be in if syria never surrendered and hezbollah was still firing missiles into their territory.
acabem com o cessar-fogo. isso não serve pra nada!