Oil factory in Lebanon set ablaze following IDF airstrike

The oil production plant was close to Hezbollah’s weapons storage facilities which was the Israeli military’s target.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

As Israel hits Hezbollah from the air in retaliation for its drone and missile attacks, an oil factory in Lebanon has caught fire, according to local media.

The blaze began Monday night in the Lebanese city of Sidon.

The oil production plant was close to Hezbollah’s weapons storage facilities which was the Israeli military’s target.

Israel hit terrorist targets following Hezbollah’s launching drones directed towards the Galilee in region of Ghaziyeh, some 60 kilometers from Israel’s northern border.

In addition, last Wednesday Hezbollah targeted an IDF base with a missile that wounded 8 and killed one soldier.

The local news outlet Al-Akhbar said that fire fighters in Sidon were struggling to contain the fire given the huge amount of oil at the plant.

In the meantime, the IDF continued its airstrikes against Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon, including areas in Yaroun, Marwahin, Dhayra and Yaroun.

Following the Hezbollah attack against Israelis last Wednesday, Israel declared it would launch “powerful” response, while hinting at a possible reprisal against the Lebanese government.

Hours after the attack, Minister Without Portfolio Benny Gantz (National Unity) addressed a gathering at Yeshivat Hedvata in Gan Yavneh, pledging that Israel would respond to the attack.

“The IDF, through the Northern Command and all formations, has been working for four months to protect the north and push Hezbollah from the borderline,” Gantz said.

Israel, Gantz continued, “is in combat in the north all the time, and this morning we experienced a difficult event for which the response will come soon, and it will be powerful.”

Hinting at a possible expansion of Israeli reprisals in Lebanon, Gantz said that the Lebanese government bears ultimate responsibility for the attacks Hezbollah conducts from Lebanese territory.

“It is important that we be clear – the party responsible for the shooting from Lebanon is not only Hezbollah or the terrorist elements that carry it out, but also the government of Lebanon and the state of Lebanon which allows the shooting from its territory and there is no target or military infrastructure in the area of the north and Lebanon that is not in our sights.

“Also in the future and in whatever arrangement there is, whoever endangers us will be dealt with operationally. We are not ready to return to the reality of October 6, neither in the south nor in the north.”