Early Friday morning, Lebanese terrorists seemed to be joining the conflict with Israel launched by the Hamas terrorist rulers of Gaza.
IDF Spokesperson Lt.Col. Peter Lerner told journalists it is not clear whether the rocket fire was “symbolic or something more substantial” at this point. However, he said, Israel has suspected for some time that terrorists in Lebanon might open a second front in the conflict with Islamist terrorists Gaza.
At least three rockets have been fired at Israel from Lebanon since midnight, the first having been launched at about 2 am. That one didn’t make it to Israel and apparently landed within Lebanon.
Two more missiles were fired from a southern Lebanon village into Israel at about 6:30 a.m.
One of the missiles exploded in an open area on the outskirts of the northern Israeli city of Metullah, located on the border with Lebanon.
The second missile – reported by Lebanese media but unconfirmed at this point by Israel — apparently malfunctioned and landed inside Lebanese territory.
Forces from UNIFIL (United Nations International Force in Lebanon) and Lebanese security personnel immediately began to search for those who launched the missiles.
Within the hour the IDF responded with its own barrage of artillery fire, aiming at targets across the northern border.
The Islamist Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon is generously funded, equipped and trained by Iran, and in recent years has been actively involved in teaching its skills to the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror groups in Gaza. Hezbollah terrorist cells have been found in the Sinai Peninsula and in various other locations around the world, particularly in Europe – in many cases where Hamas also has mini-bases and “satellite headquarters.” Likewise, Hamas and PIJ have received much funding and weaponry from Iran over the past several years.
All three groups are also linked to Syria; in the current conflict, Hamas for the first time began firing a new longer-range M302 missile, produced by Syria.
