Israel fires back with rare airstrike in response to Lebanese rocket attack

The Israeli military launched a rare airstrike Thursday in response to Lebanon’s rocket attack on Wednesday.

In a statement, the Israeli army said jets hit launch sites where Lebanon had fired rockets Wednesday and an additional target used to attack Israel in the past. The Israeli Defense Forces blamed Lebanon for the airstrike, warning against further attempts to harm Israeli civilians and Israel’s sovereignty.

The raw video above shows some of the wreckage left behind in the small village of Dimashqiya in Lebanon. “It was a strong, strong strike,” Mariam Shikri, a Lebanese woman who lives in Dimahqiya said. “We felt that the house would collapse. We waited a bit and not even 10 minutes later, there was another hit.”

The Lebanese military said 92 artillery shells were fired by Israel on Lebanese villages, resulting in a fire in the village of Rashaya al-Fukhar.

The previous day, three rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Two rockets landed inside Israeli territory, the IDF said. Local news said one rocket exploded in an open area and another was intercepted by Israel’s defense system, known as the Iron Dome. Israeli media reported the incoming rockets set off fires near Kiryat Shmona, a community of about 20,000 people near the Lebanese border.

No one has claimed responsibility for the initial rocket fire from Lebanon. The Lebanese army said it had opened an investigation to determine the source of the attack.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Israel’s use of its military to target Lebanon “is the first of its kind since 2006 and indicated the presence of aggressive, escalatory intentions”. In a statement, he said Lebanon would submit a complaint to the United Nations.

The commander of the U.N. Peacekeeping force in Lebanon called on Lebanon and Israel “to act with urgency” to de-escalate tensions, and prevent violations of the cessation of hostilities that has been in effect since 2006.