Hamas militants claim responsibility for cross-border attack on Israel from Lebanon

World October 11, 2023, 3:18

The group said that its "fighters have made one more step towards the liberation of Palestine, conducting rocket strikes on Jewish settlements in Western Galilee"

BEIRUT, October 11. /TASS/. Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Palestine’s Hamas radical movement, have claimed responsibility for the latest cross-border rocket strike on Israel, coming from southern Lebanon.

In a statement posted on its Telegram channel, the group said that its "fighters have made one more step towards the liberation of Palestine, conducting rocket strikes on Jewish settlements in Western Galilee."

The Al Hadath television channel said that at least 15 rockets were fired towards Israel from the border area of Al Qleila during the attack, four of them were intercepted by Israeli missile defenses.

The Lebanese armed forces warned the country’s population that Israeli troops had opened artillery fire, targeting the outskirts of Ayta ash Shab, Rmaych and Al-Duhaira. Phosphorus bombs have also been fired, and one of them sparked a wildfire on the hill of Al Bayada. The Lebanese army urged residents of southern Lebanon "to show maximum caution and avoid visiting the dangerous areas."

Chief of Strategic Communications and Spokesperson of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Andrea Tenenti wrote on the X social network (formerly known as Twitter): "We continue to be in contact with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line to de-escalate this very dangerous situation. We urge everyone to exercise restraint at this critical time."

The latest conflict in southern Lebanon broke out in the summer of 2006, between the Shia Hezbollah movement and the armed forces of Israel. UN Security Council Resolution 1701 introduced a ceasefire on the two states’ border, monitored by UNFIL peacekeepers.

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