Israel army shells south Lebanon after cross-border rocket attack

About 10 days later, Hezbollah militants fired a salvo of missiles at an Israeli military convoy in a disputed border area, killing two soldiers and triggering deadly clashes that marked the most serious escalation since the 2006 war.

The announcement came amidst heightened tensions along Israel’s northern border.

Some think Hezbollah’s falling popularity with the Sunni majority in the Middle East due to its meddling in the Syrian conflict could use a boost, and a conflict with Israel would help.

Israel possesses long-range air to surface missiles that conceivably could have been fired from Israeli-controlled airspace.

Lebanese Hizbollah militant leader Samir Qantar was killed in an Israeli air strike in Damascus, the Lebanese group and Syrian government sources said.

“Then he smashed my little girl’s skull in against a rock with his rifle butt”. Haran’s two-year-old daughter also died when his wife, Smadar, accidentally smothered her while trying to stifle her cries from the crawlspace where they were hiding.

As many as nine airstrikes hit the rebel-held city of Idlib on Sunday morning, killing at least 36 civilians and insurgents, said Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Samir Kuntar, 53, the commander who was killed, had a lot of enemies.

“Qantar was known as the “dean of Lebanese prisoners” for the time he spent imprisoned in Israel”.

Others say Hezbollah is stretched, and a war with the powerful Israeli military is the last thing the Shia group needs.

Syrian media said that among the dead was Farhan Shaalan, a commander in the Syrian anti-Israel resistance group founded by Mr Kuntar.

Maoz believes “Russia will allow Israel to pursue their own interests with regards to striking out against terrorist targets in Syria – even if those targets are affiliated with Russia’s Syrian allies”, adding that “the line will likely be drawn at any attempt by Israel to actively engage in aiding the overthrow of Bashar Assad’s regime, which Russian Federation is supporting”. Several Hizbullah fighters and Iranians were also killed in Sunday’s strike. It is not unusual for Israel to decline to comment on such operations.

Israel has refused to acknowledge responsibility for the strike, though the attack has been widely attributed to Jerusalem.

“When I heard eight months ago that Samir Kantar was active in Hezbollah in areas north of Israel, I started to worry that he might kill other families and children”. Al-Mayadeen TV said Kantar had been living in the targeted building for a year.