Hezbollah and the Israeli military renewed existing terms of engagement between them, which finally settled on Israel pursuing the party's air force engineers in response to the downing of the marchers, as opposed to earlier terms of engagement that targeted Baalbek in exchange for the party's targeting a new depth into northern Israel and the assassination of its leaders. .
On Tuesday, Hezbollah said it carried out attacks targeting Israeli military bases north of the city of Acre, the furthest point the party's attacks have reached inside Israel since the Gaza war broke out. It was the first time the party claimed responsibility for the bombing, the second since the war began, targeting the city of Safed in the Upper Galilee.
On Sunday night, Hezbollah retaliated by killing the head of the party's elite Radwan force in the town of Sharifah, north of Tire, when it announced that an Israeli Hermes 450 drone had been downed in the Al-Aishiya area. . The Israeli military said in a statement that the leader targeted in Sharifa was Muhammad Khalil Attiya, and that he was “a central fighter in the air force wing of the Radwan Force (Hezbollah)”.
Safe bombing
Less than an hour after his assassination, Hezbollah bombarded the city of Safed with about 30 missiles. The party said in a statement Monday night that its fighters “bombed on command” “in response to attacks by the Israeli enemy on fortified southern villages and civilian homes in Sharifa, al-Atisa and Rab Tilain.” Headquarters of the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the 91st Division at the Ain Zeitim base with dozens of missiles (Katyusha).
The site, about 11 kilometers from the nearest border point with Lebanon, was bombed for the second time three months after the last one. It led to the death of an Israeli woman, but the party that ultimately targeted the headquarters is unknown, as the party did not announce the bombing of Safed at the time.
Air Defense Engineer Assassination
In light of these developments, on Tuesday morning, in the Adlon area of the district, Israeli raids killed a Lebanese engineer, the first time a Hezbollah leader had been chased into the area, and two cars were targeted by two missiles. He was walking along the Adlon highway, migrants told Asharq Al-Awsad, which led to the car burning amid continuous overflight of the spy plane.
Two security sources close to Hezbollah told Reuters that Ezqul was an engineer in the group's air defense units and was active in its field operations. Sources say Israel is attacking Hezbollah fighters' homes with surveillance drones.
On Tuesday afternoon, the party mourned Hussein Eskul, a resident of the city of Adlun, while the Israeli military said Eskul was “a central officer in Hezbollah's air force in southern Lebanon.” The Israeli military said the killing of Askul could greatly affect Hezbollah's air force, but the party has previously played down such comments.
Standard answer
Hezbollah indicated that Ezqul was subjected to Israeli assassination. “The response went on a record scale as it announced a coordinated airstrike with offensive and offensive maneuvers targeting the headquarters of the Golani Brigade and the Egos 621 Division at Sharaka Barracks, north of the occupied city of Akko. It hit its targets with precision,” his statement said.
The bombing of Akka was the first since the start of the war, and is about 18 kilometers from the nearest border point with Lebanon. Israeli media reported that sirens sounded over Haifa Bay before the military announced it had “successfully intercepted a suspected aerial target in the Nahariya area”.
Israeli media broadcast video clips showing Iron Dome intercepting air targets over the sea and exploding in an area offshore Acre, with smoke billowing from the blast site. It said the attack was “the first to reach this depth”.
Rules of engagement updated
According to neutral analysts and field sources in the South, these developments point to an update on the rules of engagement and responses between the two sides in line with military developments. Earlier, the Israeli army responded to the massacre by bombing Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, 100 kilometers from the border, by bombing military targets and bases across the border, or by launching “Katyusha” rockets. Towards Shimona. But responses after Sunday represented that “new rules were introduced,” representing “Israel's pursuit of leaders in the party” in exchange for “bombing targets deep inside Israel with drones.”
In addition to artillery strikes that targeted several villages in the east and west, the advance escalated further as Lebanese media reported Israeli airstrikes targeting houses in Markaba, Aida al-Shab, Blida and Naqora. In addition to the sounding of sirens in Margaliot, and the bombing of a radar site in the Sheba farms, the al-Asi site, Harsh Ramim and the party's announcement to target a gathering of Israeli soldiers on Mount Qarantina, and the Ruwaisat al-Alam site in the Kafar Shuba mountains.
