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Black smoke billows from Israeli air strikes on the outskirts of Lebanese border villages. Photo/US Daily Express
BEIRUT – The militant group Hezbollah launched a missile attack on Israel on Saturday using a rocket nicknamed “Volcano,” as tensions continued to rise along the country’s northern border with Lebanon.
The Associated Press reports Israel has launched airstrikes along the Lebanese border, while Hezbollah carried out several attacks of its own against Israeli military sites. According to the AP, one of the Israeli sites, known in Lebanon as Jal al-Allam, was hit by two large Burkan missiles.
Translated as Volcano or volcano in Arabic, the Burkan missile has an operational range of 500-2,000 meters and is equipped with a large warhead that can weigh hundreds of kilograms as quoted from Newsweek, Sunday (5/11/2023).
Video purporting to show one of Saturday’s missile attacks began circulating via local news coverage and social media. One of the notable clips posted to Newsweek could not independently verify this claim.
When asked for comment by Newsweek, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press office said only that they were investigating the situation. Newsweek also contacted Hezbollah’s media relations unit via email for comment.
This escalating tension comes amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group, Hamas, in Gaza, following a violent attack carried out on October 7 that killed 1,400 Israelis.
The AP reported that, in the Israeli counterattack, more than 9,000 Palestinians in the Gaza region were also killed. Hamas and Hezbollah, in particular, are considered allies, and both are designated as terrorist organizations by the United States (US).
The day before the attack on Burkan, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed that the group was involved in an unprecedented conflict with Israel along its border with Lebanon, and that it was ready to escalate the conflict further “at any time”.
On Friday, Nasrallah made his first broadcast appearance since the resumption of conflict between Israel and Hamas, delivering a speech warning the US about its efforts to prevent a wider conflict in the region.