A Hizbullah stronghold on the Lebanon-Syria border was hit twice on Monday night, killing several Hizbullah operatives, in what Lebanese and other Arab media outlets described as an attack by Israeli jets.
Al Arabiya said the strikes were on a moving convoy carrying ballistic missiles from Syria to Lebanon, for use by Hizbullah. Other reports said the target was a Hizbullah missile base.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu hinted, but refused to confirm, that Israel was behind the strike.
“I don’t talk about what is claimed we did or did not do – that’s the first part. The second part is that we do whatever it takes to protect the security of the people of Israel.”
Mr Netanyahu has said repeatedly that Israel would not allow the Syrian regime to transfer chemical arms or "game-changing" weapons, including sophisticated land-to- sea and anti-aircraft missiles, to Hizbullah.
Advanced weapons
The commander of the Haifa naval base, rear admiral Eli Sharbit, said Israel believes that advanced weapons in Syria's hands are also transferred to Hizbullah and are located in the area of the Syrian-Lebanese border.
According to foreign media reports, Israel carried out six air strikes last year on targets in Syria and Lebanon.
Israel’s policy of not claiming responsibility suits all sides and takes the pressure off both Syria and Hizbullah to respond militarily. With thousands of Hizbullah militiamen fighting alongside regime troops against rebel forces inside Syria, the last thing either Damascus or Hizbullah wants at this juncture is to open a new front against Israel.
The Hizbullah television station Al-Manar said there had been "no raid on Lebanese territory", but confirmed a "strong presence of enemy planes over the area north of Beqaa valley" in eastern Lebanon, a Hizbullah stronghold bordering Syria.
Flare bombs
Residents of Nabi Sheet reported seeing flare bombs light up the sky ahead of the raids, which shook their homes.
A correspondent for the Lebanese state news agency in Baalbek reported intensive Israeli flights “at very low altitude” over the mountains.
Three people were reportedly killed, and at least 10 were wounded, in the strikes. Lebanese media named one of the dead as Hajji Hassan Mansour, also known as Abu Haitham, a field trainer in a Hizbullah base in the Nabi Sheet area.
Since the end of the 2006 Second Lebanon war, Israeli officials believe Hizbullah has restocked its arsenal with tens of thousands of rockets and missiles, some of which are capable of striking targets in central and southern Israel.
While Israel provides limited humanitarian aid and has treated hundreds of Syrians wounded in the fighting, it has tried to stay out of the civil war. However, it has repeatedly warned it would act to thwart the transfer of advanced weaponry from Syria to Hizbullah.
