Simmering tensions on Israel’s southern and northern borders
The Israeli summer is heating up and so are tensions between Israel and its neighbors to the north and south with rockets, shootings and incendiary devices continuing to target the Jewish state this week.
The Israel Defense Forces said that shots were fired at Israeli troops from Lebanon on Tuesday night. Israel attacked Hezbollah observation posts inside Lebanon.
“Regarding the security incident that took place last night at 10:40 p.m. in the area of [the Manara community], during operational activity, IDF troops were fired upon from Lebanese territory,” the army said in a statement. “In response to the gunfire, IDF attack helicopters and aircraft struck terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terror group.”
Meanwhile, on the border with Gaza, arson balloons launched from the coastal enclave have caused dozens of fires in Israeli farmland and rocket attacks damaged homes in the south. While most of the fires caused in Israel have not harmed anyone, they have damaged acres of farmland and some balloons have even reached populated areas including an empty kindergarten and a basketball court.
This despite the IDF’s new laser system which located and intercepted 32 incendiary and explosive balloons which were launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel in one day.
“The system effectively manages to intercept the balloons that enter its sector with a success rate of over 90 percent,” according to a source in the Border Police. “The cooperation created between the Israeli police, the IDF and the defense establishment leads to impressive operational results that strengthen the security of the residents of the Gaza periphery.”
The Israeli army struck Hamas targets in response to the dozens of balloons that have seemingly bypassed the laser system.
“IDF fighter jets, tanks, and aircraft attacked military bases and underground infrastructure operated by the Hamas terrorist organization in the southern Gaza Strip,” the military said in a statement. “The IDF will continue to forcibly counter any attempt to carry out terrorist activity against Israel and its citizens.”
In a separate incident, four Islamic Jihad operatives were killed and six injured in a “work accident,” not in an Israel Defense Forces attack.
A senior Hamas official declared that the surge in violence would continue until Israel meets the demands of the terror group on lifting the blockade.
“It is our right to break this siege,” Ismail Radwan said.
Photo: Palestinians prepare to launch destructive incendiary balloons, to destroy Israel farmland and crops (Youtube)