Israel Launches Retaliatory Airstrikes in Lebanon

Israel launched airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday hours after rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel. The Israeli government said it was targeting sites linked to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group. One of the Israeli strikes killed two people, including a child. 

Hezbollah has denied responsibility for firing the rockets, which failed to penetrate Israeli air defenses. The back-and-forth attacks were the heaviest exchange of fire since Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire last November, though Israel has continued bombarding Lebanon to take out militants.

The volley is only the latest episode to suggest that the Middle East is heating up again following the collapse of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. After Israel reneged earlier this month on its agreement to lift its blockade on Gaza, the Houthis, a militant group in Yemen that Iran supports, promised to resume its attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. The group had been conducting the attacks in solidarity with the Palestinians starting in November 2023, after the war in Gaza erupted, but paused when the ceasefire came into effect this January.

Last week, the U.S. began a campaign of airstrikes in Yemen to deter and degrade the Houthis, and President Donald Trump warned Tehran that he would view Houthi attacks as emanating from Iran. Analysts say that the rise in tensions could disrupt Trump’s efforts to negotiate a nuclear agreement with Tehran or even lead to a U.S.–Iran war.