Israeli Airstrikes Slam Hezbollah Sites Near Syria, Reports Out Of Lebanon Say
Israeli airstrikes blasted two sites near the Lebanon-Syria border Monday, apparently targeting the militant Hezbollah group, but information about the airstrikes has been difficult for news organizations to come by. The attacks were reported by the official Lebanese news agency, but Lebanon authorities have not yet confirmed the strikes.
Israeli military officials have offered only a “no comment” to media organizations trying to find out what was hit in the airstrikes, and exactly where they took place.
While the Lebanon news agency did not specify exactly what sites were hit in the airstrikes, it said that there were two separate airstrikes near the remote Lebanese town of Nabi Sheet in the Bekaa Valey, a border area known as a hotbed of smuggling and other activity by Hezbollah, which is designated by the United States government as a terrorist organization.
Hezbollah has a lengthy history of terror attacks against Israeli targets, as well as American military installations, stretching back 30 years. Most recently Hezbollah has aligned itself with the Syrian regime in its struggle with rebel forces attempting to oust the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
According to a doctor with the Free Syrian Army, one of the rebel organizations battling to topple the Assad regime, the Israeli airstrikes Monday “lit up” the town of Sarghaya in Syria, slamming Hezbollah targets there.
“They hit the Hezbollah military base on the border with us,” said Firas Ghadban.
The Saudi-based Arabic channel Al-Arabiya News also reported that Israeli airstrikes hit a Hezbollah site near the Syria-Lebanon border. The Saudi news channel claimed that the airstrikes killed “a number of Hezbollah members.”
A BBC report says that the Israeli targets may have been trucks loaded with weapons sent from the Syrian government to Hezbollah in the area, and that Israeli airstrikes have targeted the largely lawless border region repeatedly in the past two years, attempting to stop Hezbollah weapons smuggling activity in the area.
