• published: 28 Jan 2015
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Lebanese Hezbollah Hits Israeli Convoy, Killing 2 Soldiers A missile fired by the Lebanese Hezbollah group struck an Israeli military convoy on Wednesday, killing two soldiers in an apparent retaliation for a deadly airstrike attributed to Israel that killed six Hezbollah fighters in Syria earlier this month. The violence was the deadliest Hezbollah attack against Israeli forces since a 2006 war between the two sides. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would respond "forcefully" to the attack, and the military launched aerial and ground assault on Hezbollah positions, including at least 50 artillery shells according to Lebanese officials. A Spanish peacekeeper was killed in the border flare-up in southern Lebanon. In a statement, Hezbollah said its fighters destroyed a number of Israeli vehicles that were carrying Israeli officers and soldiers and caused casualties among "enemy ranks." The soldiers' ranks were not immediately known. Hezbollah said the attack was carried out by a group calling itself the "righteous martyrs of Quneitra," suggesting it was in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on the Golan Heights on Jan. 18 that killed six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian general. Ever since, Israel has braced for a response to the strike, beefing up its air defenses and increasing surveillance along its northern frontier. The Israeli military said an anti-tank missile hit an Israeli military vehicle near Mount Dov and Chebaa Farms, a disputed tract of land where the borders of Israel, Lebanon and Syria meet. The two soldiers were killed in the strike and seven others were wounded, the military said. About an hour after the attack, mortars were fired at several Israeli military locations on Mount Dov and Mount Hermon, the Israeli military said. No injuries were reported in that attack. The military said it responded with fire toward Lebanese positions, and evacuated Israeli visitors from a ski resort in the area. The flare-up recalled the beginning of the month-long 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, which was sparked by a Hezbollah attack on an Israeli military vehicle along the border and the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military said there was no indication of any Israeli soldiers captured in Wednesday's attack. But the latest salvos raised the possibility of renewed fighting along the Lebanese-Israel border, which has remained mostly quiet since the 2006 war. Since then, Israel has responded with airstrikes and artillery fire following a number of rocket attacks and shootings, but the violence has remained contained. Earlier Wednesday, Israel launched airstrikes in Syria targeting Syrian army artillery posts in response to two rockets that were fired from Syria the previous day into the Israeli-held Golan Heights. No casualties were reported in that exchange of fire. Two Lebanese officials said the Israeli shelling targeted the border villages of Majidiyeh, Abbasiyeh and Kfar Chouba near the Chebaa Farms area. By afternoon, residents along the border reported the shelling had died down but that there were still Israeli aircraft flying overhead. The Spanish Defense Ministry identified the dead peacekeeper as Cpl. Francisco Javier Soria Toledo, 36. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo told reporters he received a phone call from Israel's ambassador to Spain, offering condolences. Hezbollah ambush kills at least 2 Israeli soldiers | News Two Israeli soldiers killed in Hezbollah 'revenge attack' on military convoy near Lebanese border following Jewish state's airstrike in Syria that killed six fighters The Israeli military says two soldiers have been killed and a further seven wounded in a Hezbollah 'revenge attack' on a military convoy near the Lebanese border today. Israel's military responded to the anti-tank missile strike on the convoy with aerial and ground attacks on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. The Hezbollah group struck the nine-vehicle convoy in apparent retaliation for a deadly Israeli airstrike in Syria that killed six Hezbollah fighters earlier this month. A Spanish U.N. peacekeeper was also killed in today's clash. Two Israeli Soldiers Killed In Convoy Attack Missile Attack Along Lebanese Border Kills 2 Israeli Soldiers JERUSALEM — Two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven were wounded in a missile attack on a military convoy in a disputed area along the Lebanese border on Wednesday, according to the Israeli military, in what appeared to be the most serious flare-up in the area in years. The military did not provide additional details. There may also have been some civilian casualties, according to the military, but the situation was not immediately clear. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement that its Quneitra Martyrs Brigade carried it out at 11:35 a.m.Israeli soldiers, UN peacekeeper killed as Hezbollah attacks convoy