Israeli Airstrikes Hit Palestinian Position in Lebanon

Israeli air forces carried out Monday three strikes against a base of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in the Lebanese town of Qusaya, near the Syrian border, according to local media. 

RELATED: 

Iran Rejects Israeli Claim of Attacking Country's Base in Syria

“Three Israeli airstrikes targeted the Lebanese-Syria border east of Zahle... explosions were heard in several parts of the Bekaa valley,” An-Nahar news channel reported, while videos on social media showed explosions apparently happening in the PFLP headquarters. The strikes only caused material damage.

The airstrikes come as Israel Defense forces (IDF) hit Sunday several Hamas spots in Gaza. The country accused the militant group of firing three rockets to its territory.

While it remains unclear if the two latest raids are linked, the Qusaya incident comes after a border intrusion of alleged Israeli drones into Beirut on Sunday when an unmanned reconnaissance drone fell on the roof of a building that was housing Hezbollah's media center in the Dahiyeh suburbs of Beirut. About 45 minutes later a second drone, which was likely sent by Israel to search for the first one, exploded in the air and crashed nearby.

The Israeli military declined to comment.

Israel has lately increased its attacks aiming to “root out Iran’s proxies in the region." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without reserve announced that any country his administration would suspect of “allowing” its territory to be used for attacks against Israel will “bear the consequences,” as the Israeli PM steps up the warmongering and nationalistic rhetoric prior to Sept. 17 elections. 

The PFLP not to be confused with the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is a secular Marxist-Leninist and revolutionary socialist organization founded in the late 1960s by Palestinian militant and politician George Habash to fight Israel, favoring a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and opposing any negotiation with the Israeli government. 

The PFLP stance on the conflict contradicts Fatah’s more moderate stance. Unsurprisingly, the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, and the European Union have designated the PFLP as a terrorist organization.