Will ‘mercilessly strike’ Hezbollah, says Netanyahu after deadly military base attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. File image

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said Israel will “mercilessly strike Hezbollah” after a deadly drone attack on a military base in Israel and that the retaliation would also target sites in Beirut.

“We will continue to mercilessly strike Hezbollah in all parts of Lebanon – including Beirut. All this according to operational considerations. We have proven it recently and we will continue to prove it in the days to come,” AFP quoted Netanyahu as saying while visiting the military base hit by a Hezbollah drone on Sunday night.

As many as four soldiers were killed and seven others were seriously injured in the drone attack by Hezbollah targeting an Israeli army base near the central city of Binyamina.

Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based militant group backed by Iran, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Hezbollah said Sunday’s attack near Binyamina was retaliation for Israel’s strike on Beirut on Thursday that killed 22 people and injured more than 100.

Israel’s rescue services said the attack wounded 61 people in all, including several in critical condition. All of the injured were transferred to hospitals for treatment.

Israeli media said two drones were launched and that Israel’s anti-missile system intercepted one of them. It was not clear why the other one was not intercepted.

Hezbollah and Israel have been regularly exchanging fire across Lebanon’s border for over a year, but the conflict quickly escalated starting in September.

With inputs from agencies