Israel struck Lebanon in retaliation for missile launch: military

The Israeli military said late Wednesday that its aircraft struck at Lebanon in retaliation for the earlier launch of a surface-to-air missile.

“A short while ago, the IDF Aerial Defense Array intercepted a surface-to-air missile fired from Lebanon at an IDF UAV (drone),” the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement.

“In response, IDF aircraft struck the source of the launch,” it added.

Israel has engaged in regular tit-for-tat exchanges with the Islamist militant group Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions in southern Lebanon since the start of its war with Hamas on October 7.

Its military also struck military targets inside Syria early on Wednesday in retaliation for what it said were launches toward Israel. The strikes killed eight soldiers, according to Syrian state media.

World leaders have expressed concern that these exchanges could draw Israel into a broader conflict with other countries in the region, escalating its war against Hamas.

Israel has been bombarding Gaza in retaliation for the surprise attack by Hamas gunmen, who poured across the border killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 222 others, officials say, in the worst attack in Israel’s history.

So far, more than 6,500 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza, and there are fears the toll could further soar if Israel pushes ahead with a widely-expected ground invasion in a bid to destroy Hamas and rescue the hostages.

Hezbollah said earlier Wednesday that senior officials of Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad had held talks with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah about achieving “real victory” in their war with Israel.

The Hezbollah statement did not specify when or where Nasrallah met with Hamas number two Saleh Al-Aruri and Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh beyond saying that it was at a undisclosed location in Lebanon.