In the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel, the conflict has spread north. The Israel Defense Forces have carried out artillery strikes in Lebanon following rocket fire from the country on northern Israel. The Israeli military has also reinforced its border with Lebanon.

Hezbollah — the Iran-backed terrorist organization that launched rockets into Israel Sunday morning — said in a statement Monday that, in response to Israeli action, it has “attacked the Pranit Barracks, which is the command center of the Galilee Division, and the Avivim Barracks, which is a clerical command center affiliated with the Western Brigade, using guided missiles. Mortar shells hit them directly.”

Hezbollah was founded during the Lebanese Civil war in the 1980s with the goal of eliminating the State of Israel. The group has a history of waging war on the Jewish state, instigating the 2006 Lebanon War with rocket fire at Israeli border towns and the launching of anti-tank missiles at Israeli armored vehicles. 

A proxy of Iran, Hezbollah’s funding and weaponry come from the Islamic Republic, and the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has said that he regards himself as a “soldier” of the Ayatollah. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Jonathan Schanzer wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) early Monday afternoon that he has heard “from an Israel source that Iran is pushing Hezbollah to join the war.”

The Israeli military also killed two gunmen who entered Israeli territory from the north, while a third fled back into Lebanon. Hezbollah has denied involvement in the ground attack, for which the Gaza-based terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility. The IDF has ordered residents of northern Israeli towns near the border to remain in bomb shelters for the time being. Israeli military officials have said, though, that “the incident is over and there is no fear of another security incident.”

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation Monday, saying his country “will exact a price that will be remembered by [Hamas] and Israel’s other enemies for decades to come.” Listing the atrocities Hamas committed on Israeli soil, Netanyahu thanked United States president Joe Biden and other world leaders for their support and committed to a decisive end to the fighting.

“Israel will win this war, and when Israel wins, the entire civilized world wins,” he said.