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After Iran’s attack on Israel, now fears over escalation at Lebanese border

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Updated April 18, 2024 at 4:24 p.m. EDT|Published April 18, 2024 at 1:26 p.m. EDT
A destroyed vehicle stands outside a damaged community center in northern Israel on Thursday, the day after Hezbollah launched missiles and drones at the Bedouin village of Arab al-Aramshe, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)
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BEIRUT — The Iranian attack on Israel over the weekend has refocused attention on the border with Lebanon where Iran’s ally, Hezbollah, has long been fighting a muted war that could be the target of an Israeli retaliation.

The Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah — which is both a military force and Lebanon’s strongest political party — have been regularly skirmishing since Hamas’s Oct. 7 blitz into Israel. Attacks have ebbed and flowed as the war in Gaza has dragged on, punctuated by U.S. attempts at negotiating a diplomatic solution to resolve long-standing security issues.