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Middle East tensions soared as Iran and its allies readied their response to the assassination of Hamas’s political leader, blamed on Israel, spurring fears of a regional war. (Screengrab)
Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in response to attacks on Lebanon, escalating tensions amid fears of regional conflict following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
Lebanon-based outfit Hezbollah launched dozens of Katyusha rockets at Israel, marking the latest in a series of attacks the group claims are in support of the Palestinian people.
The Iran-backed group said its latest attack, on Beit Hillel in northern Israel, was in response to Israel’s attacks on Kfar Kela and Deir Siriane in Lebanon which, it said, had injured civilians there.
On Sunday, tensions in the Middle East soared as Iran and its allies readied their response to the assassination of Hamas’s political leader, blamed on Israel, spurring fears of a regional war.
This attack on Israel comes as the United States is moving more warships and fighter jets to the region. Meanwhile, Western governments called on their citizens to leave Lebanon — where the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement is based — and airlines cancelled flights.
The killing this week of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, hours after the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah’s military chief in Beirut, has triggered vows of vengeance from Iran and the so-called “axis of resistance”. Iran-backed groups from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria have already been drawn into the nearly 10-month war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
Israel on Saturday again traded fire with Hezbollah, carried out a deadly raid in the occupied West Bank, and struck a school compound in Gaza City in an attack that the Hamas-ruled territory’s civil defence agency said killed at least 17 people.
Haniyeh was buried on Friday in Qatar, where he had been based. Israel, accused by Hamas, Iran and others of carrying out the attack, has not directly commented on it. Iran said on Saturday it expects Hezbollah to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets.
The Pentagon said it was bolstering its military presence in the Middle East to protect US personnel and defend Israel. It said an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln would be deployed, as well as additional ballistic missile defence-capable cruisers and destroyers and a new fighter squadron.
(With agency inputs)
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