A new escalation of tensions was reported on Saturday morning in southern Lebanon following the launch of five rockets from Lebanon toward the border village of Metula.
A series of explosions caused by Israeli interceptor missiles was reported in the airspace of southeastern Lebanon. Three rockets were intercepted, while two landed on Lebanese soil.
In response, Israeli artillery shelling targeted the Haret al-Ain neighborhood in the locality of Yohmor al-Shaqif, the villages of Khiam and Hula, the outskirts of Arnun and Kfar Tibnit near the Al-Khardali River, as well as the vicinity of Markaba.
Additionally, the Israeli army conducted a sweeping operation with automatic weapons from its position on the Hamames hill. The outskirts of Hula, Markaba, and Kfar Kila were also targeted by heavy machine gun fire from adjacent Israeli positions, with military aircraft flying over the eastern sector.
Level 3 alert sirens were activated at UNIFIL centers in Deir Siryan and Aadchit.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced on X that “the Air Force intercepted three rockets fired from Lebanon toward Israel. The alert sirens were activated at 07:32 and 07:34 in the border town of Metula.”
"The defense forces will respond with force to these shootings," he added.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued threats, holding the Lebanese state responsible for the incident and vowing retaliation.
“We will not allow fire from Lebanon to target communities in the Galilee. We have promised to ensure the security of Galilee’s residents, and that is exactly what will happen. The law of Metula is the same as that of Beirut. The Lebanese government is responsible for any fire originating from its territory. I have instructed the Israeli army to respond accordingly,” he stated.
President Joseph Aoun warns against escalation in South Lebanon
In this context, the President of the Republic, Joseph Aoun, condemned attempts to drag Lebanon back into a cycle of violence.
He considered that “the events that have occurred in South Lebanon since February 18 constitute a persistent aggression against the country and a threat to the national rescue project supported by the Lebanese”.
Aoun also called on all parties concerned, including the Monitoring Commission set up following the ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024, and the army, to closely monitor the situation to prevent any escalation.
He asked the army's Commander-in-Chief, Rodolphe Haykal, to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of citizens, and to investigate the circumstances of the incident (the rockets fired at Metula from Lebanon).
According to LBCI, Hezbollah told President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam that it was not involved in the events in the south, stressing its commitment to the ceasefire and its support for the Lebanese state.
According to the same sources, Hezbollah refused to “engage in any further escalation, in light of the current security tensions on the southern front”.
For his part, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned against the risk of a “new war”, calling for international pressure against Israel.
Salam contacted the Minister of National Defense, Michel Menassa, emphasizing the need to take all necessary security and military measures and reaffirming that only the state has the right to decide on matters of war and peace.
The Prime Minister also reached out to the United Nations Secretary-General’s personal representative in Lebanon, Jeanine Plasschaert, urging the UN to "intensify international pressure on Israel to fully withdraw from the occupied Lebanese territories." He stated that "this occupation constitutes a violation of UN Resolution 1701 and the ceasefire agreements approved by the previous government last October, to which Lebanon has committed."
As for the Parliament Speaker, Nabih Berri, he called on the Lebanese army, the judicial and security authorities and the ceasefire monitoring committee to “quickly clarify the circumstances of what happened this morning in the south”, stressing that the sole beneficiary of these developments is Israel. He mentioned that Israel is responsible, “so far, for more than 1,500 violations of resolution 1701 and the terms of the ceasefire agreement, while Lebanon and Hezbollah are fully committed to respecting all its provisions”.
Berri reiterated his call to “all Lebanese, especially the political forces, to control political discourse, to rally around the state as well as its constitutional, judicial, military and security institutions”.
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