On Monday, Lebanon witnessed what appeared – and was reported – to be a military conflict between Hezbollah and Israel on its southern border. However, Hezbollah said it did not conduct any operations that day.
The conflict that took place in the afternoon turned out to be one-sided, according to the statement Hezbollah released hours after Israel fired artillery shells on some Lebanese areas.
According to the statement, Israel’s reports about “thwarting an infiltration operation from Lebanese territory” and the talks about Hezbollah sustaining casualties as a result of Israel’s artillery fire are all “absolutely false.”
These reports, the statement added, constituted “an attempt to invent fake, false victories.”
“The Islamic Resistance affirms that there has been no clash or shooting on its part in the events of the day thus far. Rather, it was only [from] one side, which was [that of] the fearful, anxious, and tense enemy,” Hezbollah said.
This comes a week after the Israeli airstrike that killed a Hezbollah fighter in Syria heightened tensions on Lebanon’s southern border.
The statement said that “the state of terror” that Israel has been living in after its attack on Syria, coupled with its “complete inability to know the intentions of the resistance,” caused it to maneuver tensely on the field and in the media.
Moreover, it stressed that the retaliation to “the Zionist aggression on the outskirts of Damascus International Airport is inevitably coming, and the Zionists have only to wait for the punishment for their crimes.”
Finally, Hezbollah noted that the artillery fire that took place today and damaged a civilian’s house “will not be tolerated at all.”
In context, an Israeli official said earlier on Monday that the Israeli army foiled an attack on its forces near the border with Lebanon.
The Israeli Prime Minister held Hezbollah and Lebanon responsible for the alleged attack while retaliatory Israeli artillery fire was concentrated at some southern Lebanese villages, without any casualties being reported in the aftermath.
