Color Red sirens went off in northern Israel late Monday at around 11 PM as six Grad-type rockets were fired from Lebanon. The rockets fell short, landing inside Lebanon. The IDF responded by shelling the area from which the rockets were launched.
6 rockets were just fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel, all of which fell inside Lebanon.
In response, our artillery forces fired toward the sources of the launches.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 17, 2021
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) tweeted that it had contacted the IDF and Lebanese army urging both sides to calm.
On Monday 17 May at around 1130pm, UNIFIL detected firing of rockets from general area of Rashaya Al Foukhar north of Kfar Chouba in s. Lebanon. Immediately after we were also informed by the parties.
IDF returned artillery fire directed at location from where rockets originated.— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) May 17, 2021
It is interesting to note that the rockets were fired from an area know as the Shebaa Farms. Both Islamic and Jewish tradition hold that a location in the Sheeba farms, called Maqam ‘Ibrahim al-Khalil in Arabic and Makom Habětarim in Hebrew, is the site of the covenant of the pieces, God’s first covenant with Abraham, in the biblical land of Israel.
מטחים לאשקלון ועוטף עזה, כמו כן נשמעה אזעקת צבע אדום במשגב עם שבגבול לבנון, הפרטים בבדיקה.
— ℝ | אדיר (@AdirLM1) May 17, 2021
The recent incident marks the third time rockets have been fired at Israel from the north since hostilities began last Monday with Hamas in Gaza. On Thursday, three rockets fired at Israel from Lebanon landed in the Mediterranean Sea. Hezbollah denied having any connection with that incident. Lebanese media reported that Lebanese security forces had arrested members of a Palestinian terrorist group who were behind the rocket attack.
Three missiles were fired at Israel from Syria on Friday evening. One rocket fell inside Syria and the other two landed in open areas of the Golan Heights.
Also last week, Lebanese protesters challenged the border fence, crossing into Israel, leading the IDF to kill one of the protesters when he tried to enter the Israeli town of Metula. Hezbollah later claimed that the 21-year-old potential infiltrator was a member of their terrorist organization.
The incidents took place while Israel is under heavy rocket fire from Gaza as well as rioting by Arabs in Israeli cities.