Rocket event in Lebanon on Tue 16th April 2024

BEIRUT, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on Monday detonated several explosive devices as Israeli troops was trying to cross the borderline separating Lebanon and Israel. Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters had planted several explosive devices in the Tal Ismail area adjacent to the border. When Israeli forces from the Golani Brigade crossed the border and arrived at the site of the explosive devices, Hezbollah detonated them, killing and wounding Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military confirmed on Monday that four of its soldiers sustained injuries in an explosion that occurred hundreds of metres inside Lebanese territory. Lebanese military sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel on Monday carried out nine successive airstrikes on six border towns and villages and fired 40 shells at 10 towns and villages in southern Lebanon. One of the airstrikes targeted a residential neighborhood in the town of Siddiqine, injuring nine civilians and destroying six homes. The airstrikes also wrecked an agricultural project in the southeastern village of Kfarchouba. The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants on Monday urged for a cessation of escalation in the region, calling on all parties to respect international resolutions to prevent further destabilization in the Middle East. Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah towards Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery towards southeastern Lebanon. The confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have killed 419 people on the Lebanese side, including 266 members of Hezbollah and 75 civilians, according to Lebanese security sources. ■