JERUSALEM (JTA) — Hezbollah confirmed that an airstrike hit one of its bases near the Lebanon-Syria border and vowed to attack Israel in retaliation.
On Wednesday, the terrorist group said it “will choose the time and place and the proper way to respond” to the attack of two days earlier.
The Hezbollah television station Al-Manar said no lives were lost, countering a report in the Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon that four Hezbollah members were killed. Hezbollah said there was damage.
The newspaper also reported that the attack targeted a truck carrying missiles and another carrying a missile launcher.
On Tuesday, during an appearance with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would neither confirm nor deny that Israel had struck a target in Lebanon.
The same day, however, Time magazine quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying that Israel carried out the attack. The official said the convoy that reportedly was struck apparently had included missiles with larger and more dangerous warheads than ones already in Hezbollah’s possession.
Israel has said it will not allow Hezbollah to receive high-quality weapons from its allies in the Syrian government.
In January, Israel was blamed for attacking a warehouse of advanced Russian-made S-300 missiles in the Syrian port city of Latakia — an accusation it neither confirmed nor denied. In recent months, Israel has been accused of several attacks on weapons targets in Syria, including near Latakia, some of which were verified by U.S. officials.
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