Rocket hits Israeli military post; five soldiers seriously injured; Smotrich's son among the injured
Indonesia has suspended discussions on the Peace Council. Military escalation on the northern border of Israel and Lebanon has claimed more casualties among the military. At least eight Israeli soldiers were wounded, five of them in critical condition, after Hezbollah rockets struck their military position on Friday (6 March) local time.
According to an initial investigation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the rockets hit a military post near the Lebanon border. Although warning alarms had sounded, soldiers from the Givati Brigade were reportedly unable to reach shelter in time. All casualties were evacuated to hospital for emergency medical treatment.
The office of Israeli Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich confirmed that one of the lightly injured in the attack was the minister’s own son.
The Israeli Air Force launched a large-scale air assault towards Beirut, the Lebanese capital, from Thursday night through Friday. Intelligence reports indicate several officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) began leaving Beirut following the intensity of Israeli strikes targeting Hizbullah’s power centers.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah issued evacuation warnings for residents in Israeli towns near the border. This move was seen as a sarcastic response to evacuation orders issued by Israel for the Dahieh district in Beirut. The Israeli government itself has stated that it will not evacuate civilian residents in the north, but will continue to widen ground and air operations to push Hizbullah militants back from the border region.
Israel increased the intensity of airstrikes on Lebanon on Friday local time, including a series of major strikes in the Baalbek district.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health says Israeli strikes in the country since Monday have killed a total of 217 people, most of them civilians.
When combined with attacks on residential buildings, Israel adds to the suffering and hardship of an already weary civilian population.
Hizbullah said the strikes were carried out in response to what it described as Israeli criminal aggression targeting dozens of towns and settlements in Lebanon, including the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Syria has deployed thousands of troops and rockets to the Lebanon border to prevent arms smuggling and militia infiltration amid the escalation of the Israel-Hizbullah conflict.