Hezbollah anti-tank missile strikes Israeli kibbutz

Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon on Sunday fired an anti-tank missile at Kibbutz Sasa, close to the border.

The attack caused no injuries but some damage, said reports.

Additionally, several rockets fired from Lebanese territory towards the Jewish state hit open areas.

In response, the IDF shelled the source of the launches and fighter jets carried out a series of strikes targeting Hezbollah terrorist sites in Lebanon.

“If Hezbollah wants to go up a level, we will go up five,” said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant while visiting troops along the northern border on Sunday.

Earlier this month, Gallant told local leaders in northern Israel that Jerusalem plans to completely remove Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon.

On Sunday, he vowed to restore security to the north so that residents of border communities could return to their homes.

“We will do this either through an agreement, or using force,” said Gallant.

“We don’t want war, but we won’t hold it for too long,” he added.

On Saturday, an Israel Defense Forces reservist was killed and two others were wounded when an armed drone launched from Lebanon struck near the Eastern Galilee moshav of Margaliot.

The Iron Dome defense system intercepted a second drone, according to the military.

The casualty was identified as Warrant Officer (res.) Yehezkel Azaria, 53, from Petach Tikvah.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack.

Also on Saturday, terrorists in Lebanon fired several rockets towards Israel, to which the military responded by shelling the source of the fire.

Israeli Air Force fighter jets also struck a terror cell operating in a known Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon.

Israeli airstrikes also targeted Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure, including command centers and missile launch sites.

The upsurge in attacks on Israel from Lebanon compels the Jewish state to act and remove the Hezbollah threat from its border, Israeli Minister-without-Portfolio Benny Gantz told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a phone call last week.

“The international community must act against the state of Lebanon to stop the aggression in the border area,” warned Gantz, a member of the War Cabinet, according to a readout from his office.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 stipulates that the Lebanese terrorist group is not allowed to operate south of the Litani River, which is located some 18 miles north of the Israeli frontier.

The U.N. resolution, which was passed after the 2006 Second Lebanon War between Israel and Hezbollah, also calls for the Iran-backed group to be disarmed.