The militant group Hezbollah threatened Israel on Monday with a “firm and strong” response and said the Jewish state “will pay the price” amid reports that an Israeli strike inside Lebanon killed three children.
Israeli officials said that their troops targeted a vehicle believed to be transporting terrorists. Those officials said that Israel is examining reports that civilians were killed in the operation, according to media reports.
But Hezbollah, whose leader last week warned Israel of significant escalation, said the alleged civilian deaths will not go unpunished.
“The enemy will pay the price for its crimes against civilians,” Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters on Monday.
Hezbollah responded to the incident by firing rockets into Israel, the latest in a string of clashes between the two sides as fears mount that Israel could soon find itself in a two-front war. Israel says it has suffered its own civilian casualties, including at least one death Sunday after an anti-tank missile was fired Lebanon at the northern Israeli community of Kibbutz Yiftah, Israeli media reported.
The rising tensions with Hezbollah come as Israeli troops push deeper into the Gaza Strip in an effort to crush the militant group Hamas, which on Oct. 7 launched a terrorist attack that killed more than 1,400 Israelis. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are financially backed by Iran.
SEE ALSO: Gaza City encircled by Israeli troops as IDF cuts the Hamas enclave in half, say officials
While Hamas poses its own threats, Hezbollah is widely seen as a much more capable, well-trained and well-equipped fighting force. A full entrance by Hezbollah would transform the conflict into a much wider war on two fronts, straining the Israeli military and stoking fears that the fight could spread across the Middle East.
Hezbollah in recent days has given clues that it may be eyeing just such a scenario. On Friday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened to unleash the full fury of his militant group against Israel. He also mocked the U.S. troops and warships that have been dispatched to the region as a deterrent.
Mr. Nasrallah said the U.S. must rein in Israel‘s war in Gaza. If it doesn’t, he suggested, Israel may soon find itself facing the full might of Hezbollah.
“You, the Americans, can stop the aggression against Gaza because it is your aggression. Whoever wants to prevent a regional war, and I am talking to the Americans, must quickly halt the aggression on Gaza,” he said, according to English-language media translations of his remarks.
At least seven Israeli soldiers and at least 50 Hezbollah fighters have reportedly been killed in clashes between the two sides since Oct. 7.
Hezbollah has more troops and weapons than Hamas, including an arsenal of more than 100,000 rockets and precision-guided missiles capable of striking targets deep inside Israel. Its fighters fought Israeli troops to a draw in a brief but intense border war in 2006 and analysts say Hezbollah has only gotten stronger since then.
SEE ALSO: What happens next? Questions mount about Gaza’s future as Israel-Hamas war rages
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.