Sept. 23 (UPI) — The Israel Defense Forces said Monday morning that it was “extensively striking” Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. No additional information about the attack was provided in the statement published Monday morning on X, which said more information would follow soon. The strike into Lebanon comes amid rising fears of an expanding war in the Middle East as Israel has recently intensified its attacks against the Iran proxy militia.
The two sides have exchanged strikes over the southern Lebanese border since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas, another Iran-backed group, in Gaza nearly a year ago. However, the intensity of the conflict has recently escalated, raising fears that the war, previously contained to Israel and the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, could expand throughout the region.
Last week, 37 people were killed and nearly 3,000 more were injured over two days in a brazen attack that saw pagers and walkie-talkies held by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon explode simultaneously. Israel, which has yet to comment, has been blamed for the attack.
At the same time, Israeli officials declared a new objective of the war: the return of tens of thousands of Israelis to their northern Israel homes, near the Lebanese border.
About 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated from northern Israeli cities close to the Lebanese border because of the constant military strikes.
While Hezbollah has threatened retaliation over the detonations and has continued its barrage of missile attacks on Israel, Israel has also said it is determined to see its citizens return to their homes and has retaliated in kind.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden of the United States told reporters that they are working to contain the conflict.
“We’re going to do everything we can to keep a wider war from breaking out,” he said, according to a Sunday afternoon press pool report. “And we’re still pushing hard.”
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