Hezbollah Threatens Retaliation After Israeli Strikes Kill 11 In Lebanon

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Iran-backed Hezbollah threatened to retaliate after Israel said Saturday it had killed a commander of the group in an attack that killed at least 11 people.

However, Israel denied deliberately targeting civilians, saying its forces struck Hezbollah infrastructure after an attack blamed on the group seriously wounded three Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli strikes killed 11 people and wounded at least 19 in the south of the country, in some of the deadliest violence since a U.S.-mediated truce eased hostilities in June.

Seven people were killed in the village of Ansar, including three children and two women, Lebanese authorities said. Four others were killed in Deir al-Zahrani.

HEZBOLLAH COMMANDER KILLED

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the Ansar strike killed Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, a battalion commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, at what it described as a Hezbollah command center.

Israel acknowledged that members of Hassan’s family were also killed but said they were not deliberately targeted, accusing Hezbollah of operating among civilians.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the strikes, saying civilians, including women and children, had been killed in their homes.

Hezbollah called the attacks a “massacre” and vowed an “appropriate response,” raising fears of renewed fighting despite efforts to preserve the fragile truce.

ISRAEL CITES SOLDIER ATTACK

The Israeli military said its strikes followed Hezbollah actions against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, where an explosive drone attack seriously wounded an officer and two other soldiers.

The latest violence underscored the fragility of the ceasefire after years of cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite group backed financially and militarily by Iran.

Israel has maintained that Hezbollah must be disarmed and prevented from rebuilding its military infrastructure near the Israeli border, while Hezbollah has resisted demands to surrender its weapons while Israeli forces remain in Lebanese territory.

Lebanon’s government has been under pressure to extend state authority over the south and prevent Hezbollah from operating independently of the Lebanese armed forces.

PEACE TALKS AT RISK

The violence threatens to complicate U.S.-supported efforts to stabilize the Israeli-Lebanese border and resolve disputes over Hezbollah’s weapons and the presence of Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the strikes sent a “clear message” ahead of further negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. The U.S.-brokered framework links a phased Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon to the disarmament of non-state armed groups, including Hezbollah.

Yet Hezbollah has rejected demands to surrender its weapons while Israeli troops remain in Lebanon, leaving one of the central issues dividing the sides unresolved.

The stakes extend well beyond Lebanon as Hezbollah remains Iran’s most powerful regional ally, making renewed large-scale fighting a potential trigger for further confrontation involving Israel and Iran.

WIDER IRAN CONFLICT

Lebanon has also emerged as an important issue in diplomatic efforts surrounding the wider war with Iran, with Tehran linking progress toward ending that conflict to an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

The interconnected disputes mean renewed Israel-Hezbollah fighting could complicate attempts to reach broader regional agreements involving Iran while increasing pressure on Lebanon’s government to contain the heavily armed group.

For Israel, Hezbollah’s continuing military presence along its northern frontier remains a major security concern, particularly because of the group’s close relationship with Tehran, according to Israeli officials.

Critics warn that the latest Israeli strikes and Hezbollah’s threat of retaliation risk undermining not only the fragile Israel-Lebanon truce and related peace efforts but also broader diplomatic attempts to prevent the region’s interconnected conflicts from escalating further.

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