The United States on Friday urged the Lebanese government to prevent Hezbollah fighters from launching rockets towards Israel amid rising tensions along the border between Lebanon and the Israeli state. U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price stated, "We urgently call on the Lebanese government to prevent such attacks and to assert its control over this area," adding, "We strongly encourage all efforts to maintain calm."
Hezbollah, backed by Iran, holds significant influence in Lebanon, which is experiencing an unprecedented economic collapse and has been unable to form a new government for nearly a year after the resignation of the current caretaker government. The Israeli Air Force announced on Thursday that it had carried out its first airstrikes on Lebanon in years, confirming that it targeted sites from which rockets had been fired toward its northern areas.
On Friday, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets from the south towards Israeli positions "in response to the Israeli airstrikes," but the Israeli army reported intercepting most of them, affirming its lack of desire for escalation along the border. Hezbollah's leadership, which possesses a large arsenal of precision missiles, has reiterated the necessity of "establishing rules of engagement" that were set during the last war with Israel in July 2006. The United States, a primary international supporter of Israel, previously stated that Israel has the right to defend itself.
