Elements inside Lebanon on Sunday fired a volley of rockets into Israel, drawing Israeli artillery fire reportedly targeting the launch site. The attack comes a few weeks after a cross-border sniper attack in which a Lebanese soldier targeted and killed an Israeli soldier driving to base. That attack caused analysts to focus on elements in the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) sympathetic to Hezbollah, which had days before vowed to strike the Jewish state.
Observers are speculating that this weekend’s rocket attack, in contrast, was launched not by Hezbollah but by one of the Sunni jihadist groups that have infiltrated recently Lebanon – that infiltration, in turn, being blow-back generated by Hezbollah’s critical role in helping Syria’s Shiite-backed Bashar al-Assad regime roll back the largely Sunni opposition.
Hezbollah has ignored ultimatums from Sunni groups to untangle itself from the conflict, with the result being a wave of blow-back targeting Lebanon.
Speaking to reporters on a conference call organized by The Israel Project, veteran Israeli intelligence analyst Aviv Oreg speculated that, based on the location from which the rockets were launched, the attack may have originated with jihadist groups hoping to draw Israel into a confrontation with Hezbollah:
“Previous incidents of fire on the northern border against Israel were conducted on the western side of the country, along the coast. This morning’s fire comes from the eastern side,” Oreg said.
He said the attacks were most likely the work of a smaller jihadist group hoping to reignite the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which is embroiled in fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
“The jihadis see Hezbollah as an enemy no smaller than they see Israel as an enemy,” Oreg said. “If this is a jihadi group, then it is likely they want Israel to fight against Hezbollah.”
Destabilization along Israel’s borders – the Jewish state is now facing deteriorating security conditions along its borders with Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, and within the West Bank – may negatively impact Jerusalem’s ability to make diplomatic and territorial concessions to adversaries.
Speaking to reporters in part about the rocket attacks from Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon emphasized Monday that he would accept a “European boycott” if it was the only alternative to “rockets from Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin [falling] onto Ben-Gurion Airport.” The reference is to European threats to degrade relations with Israel if it does not make concessions acceptable the Palestinians.
[Photo: 24X7BreakingNEWS/ YouTube ]