Hezbollah vows to retaliate against alleged Israeli air strike in Lebanon

Attack on Hezbollah border position would be first inside Lebanese territory since start of the conflict in Syria
Israeli air strike over Damascus
Smoke and fire fill the skyline over Syrian capital Damascus after an Israeli air strike in May last year. Photograph: Anonymous/AP

Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate after accusing Israel of launching an air strike at one of its positions near the border with Syria this week.

The attack on Monday, which Israel has not acknowledged, would be the first inside Lebanese territory since the start of the Syrian conflict three years ago.

There was material damage but no casualties, according to a Hezbollah statement.

Israel has fired artillery across the border and carried out similar air strikes inside Syria, targeting suspected weapons shipments believed to be bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Hezbollah, a Shia militant group allied to President Bashar al-Assad, has been fighting alongside Syrian government troops near the border and has lost at least several hundred fighters during the conflict.

The reported attack was initially met with silence by Lebanese and Hezbollah officials. But on Wednesday, Hezbollah claimed it took place near the eastern Lebanese village of Janta. It denied media reports that any artillery or rocket positions had been hit.

The porous border is frequently used by fighters and smugglers to move people and weapons between Lebanon and Syria. The area is a bastion of Hezbollah support and the group is known to have several outposts and training camps there.


The Israeli military declined to comment.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006, which ended in a stalemate. Israeli officials believe Hezbollah has restocked its arsenal with tens of thousands of rockets and missiles, some of which are capable of striking virtually anywhere in the Jewish state.

Although Israel has refrained from taking a position in the Syrian civil war, the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has repeatedly vowed to take action to prevent Hezbollah from obtaining "game-changing" weapons from Syria.