Israel and Hezbollah edged closer towards full scale war on Tuesday, as the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group launched explosive drones at a key Israeli command base, declaring the attack part of its response to recent high-level Israeli assassinations in Lebanon.

Hezbollah announced it had launched “a number of explosive attack drones” at the Israeli northern military command base in Safed, the first time it has targeted the site.

As air raid sirens sounded across northern Israel on Tuesday, Israeli aircraft, drones and artillery struck multiple targets inside southern Lebanon, including a strike on a car during the funeral of a senior commander in the group’s elite Radwan force who had been killed the day before.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati – a Sunni businessman and politician who describes himself as “liberal” and is not part of Hezbollah – said that while his country was open to negotiations, it was being threatened with war.

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  • Gazumi
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    156 months ago

    Wow, a drone hits a base and then we say closer to war? I seem to have read the balance differently. I thought the Israeli bombings of safe zones etc. might be the far more significant issue.

    • @hitmyspot
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      146 months ago

      Remember Hezbollah is not hamas. Lebanon is a different country.

    • @Altofaltception
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      86 months ago

      A retaliatory drone strike.

      Remember Israel is the aggressor here.

      • @sailingbythelee
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        -176 months ago

        What? Israel isn’t the aggressor state. Israel has been subject to outright attack by surrounding Muslim nations four times since its creation BY THE UNITED NATIONS. They’ve also been subject to smaller-scale but never-ending terrorist attacks for decades. That whole dynamic is also why Lebanon is a failed state controlled by Hezbollah, which is an internationally recognized terrorist group like Hamas. If Israel didn’t defend itself as robustly as it does, the Jews there would have been wiped out decades ago.

        • @Altofaltception
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          106 months ago

          Hezbollah doesn’t control Lebanon wtf.

          Hezbollah came into being because Israel invaded Lebanon as they were sheltering Palestinian refugees.

          Israel’s clear goal is to exterminate the Palestinians.

          • @sailingbythelee
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            6 months ago

            My friend, Hezbollah is the most influential political party in Lebanon and has its own militia. The Lebanese state not only does not have a monopoly on violence, it doesn’t even claim a monopoly on violence. Since at least 2008, despite its constitution, Hezbollah (edit: oops) has been recognized by successive governments as a legitimate military force on the same level as the Lebanese Armed Forces, but with none of the accountability. It also has a vast network covering every aspect of Lebanese society. It is called the “shadow government” of Lenanon for a reason. You will likely find the following analysis interesting.

            https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/06/how-hezbollah-holds-sway-over-lebanese-state

        • Zellith
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          6 months ago

          since its creation BY THE UNITED NATIONS

          I mean… What a stupid idea that was.

          • @[email protected]
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            6 months ago

            Creation of an ethnostate in an extremely contentious area, amongst religious “enemy” states. Mmmmm great idea, definitely wasn’t intending to cause issues. Then supporting the expansion of the state? Yeah right

        • mihies
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          56 months ago

          Yeah, live is tough when you are a war crime and a genocidal terrorist artificially created state.

        • @[email protected]
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          26 months ago

          That’s a convenient summary of a situation, but I worry you don’t understand that it’s not this situation.