⁍ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces thwarted an attempt by Hezbollah to infiltrate across the Lebanon frontier.
⁍ Hezbollah denies infiltration attempt or clashes near Lebanese frontier.
⁍ An Israeli military spokesman said between three and five Hezbollah militants had taken part in the operation and had crossed back into Lebanon.
– Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah appear to have ratcheted up a notch after an Israeli airstrike in Syria killed two members of the Iranian-backed group last week. On Monday, Israeli warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes in Syria in response to what Israel said was a Hezbollah attack that killed one of its members, reports the AP. The airstrikes hit a series of targets in Syria, including what Israel said was a network of terrorist targets in and around Damascus. Hezbollah denied involvement in Monday’s attack and warned that its “response to the martyrdom of Ali Kamel … will surely come,” referring to the fighter killed in Syria. Reuters reports that Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces thwarted an attempt by Hezbollah to infiltrate across the Lebanon border. “Hezbollah should know it is playing with fire,” Netanyahu said in a televised address from Israel’s defense ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv. He cautioned that any attacks from Lebanese territory would draw a powerful response. Earlier, a Reuters witness in Lebanon counted dozens of Israeli shells hitting the disputed Shebaa Farms area along the border. Occupied by Israel, the Shebaa Farms is claimed by Lebanon. The United Nations regards it as part of Syrian territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Israeli forces have been on alert along the northern border in anticipation of Hezbollah retaliation for the killing of one of its members a week ago in an alleged Israeli attack on the edge of the Syrian capital Damascus.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-lebanon/netanyahu-warns-hezbollah-against-playing-with-fire-after-frontier-incident-idUSKCN24S1KN