Retaliation in kind: Hezbollah's 'strategic' response to Israeli attacks

Perhaps it is the highest level reached by the tension on the southern front between Hezbollah and Israel, which has witnessed almost continuous and intense shelling since Wednesday evening.

Comparing the previous and recent statements from Hezbollah, one notices a shift. 

Today's tone has changed, emphasizing that it will not hesitate to defend villages and civilians, pledging to respond to every targeting equally.

So, what is happening?

Observers say that Hezbollah is attempting to curb Israeli persistence in killing civilians. When mourners in Aita al-Shaab were targeted, the party struck the settlement of Qiryat Shemona in response. 

On the day citizen Hussein Ali Barakat, who worked in delivery, was killed by a drone, the party targeted the settlement of Yiftah. 

The deeper Israel goes, the more the party responds in kind. Hence, the targeting of two Iron Dome platforms in Capri, about 7 kilometers deep, for the first time, in response to targeting a house in the town of Houmine in southern Lebanon.

As Israeli drones carried out raids over Mhaibib, the party responded by announcing the targeting of two Israeli military helicopters within occupied territories.

Today, Israelis are shelling even the former positions of the party or those suspected of being so. 

The latest is the destruction of a house in Kfarkela, claiming an alleged tunnel reaching occupied Palestine beneath it. Presently, the focus is on airstrikes, deemed faster and more precise. 

According to observers, all of this falls within the framework of pressure on one side and media propaganda towards settlers on the other, even though the rules of engagement were broken long ago.