Israel Strikes Lebanon Again and Vows to "Settle Scores"
Israel carried out fresh strikes on southern Lebanon on Sunday night, with the defence minister, Israel Katz, vowing to “settle scores” with Hezbollah. The Israeli military says its weekend raids, which Lebanese authorities said killed 11 people, answered a Hezbollah drone attack that wounded three of its soldiers. Hezbollah has not launched a major retaliation, but its leader denounced a proposed deal with Israel as humiliating.
The pattern of the past three days — deadly Israeli strikes, named Hezbollah commanders killed, and rhetoric hardening on both sides — suggests a campaign rather than a flare-up, and the June ceasefire is straining badly. Hezbollah’s restraint so far may reflect the cost of a wider war it can ill afford, but Naim Qassem’s attack on the proposed agreement signals no appetite for the diplomatic track either. Israel’s account of the drone attack that started this round comes from its own military and has not been independently confirmed. With the Gulf crisis consuming attention, a second front on Israel’s northern border would stretch an already inflamed region. Watch whether Hezbollah answers and whether the ceasefire survives the week.