MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2019) Washington stands by Israel in the wake of the recent missile attack from Lebanon and entirely supports the Jewish state's right to self-defense, Jason Greenblatt, the US special representative for international negotiations, said amid soaring tensions between the two middle Eastern nations.
On Sunday, Israeli drones dropped flammables on a Lebanese grove near the border with Israel in an anti-Hezbollah operation triggering forest fires. In response, several anti-tank missiles were launched from Lebanon to target facilities in northern Israel, prompting the Israeli military to fire some 100 projectiles on Lebanon's southern settlements.
"Missiles fired from Lebanon into Israel. Iran has proxies in Lebanon & Gaza that harm Israel, undermine chances for peace & threaten a better future for Palestinians. The US stands w/ Israel & fully supports its right to defend itself against all attacks," Greenblatt tweeted on Sunday.
Tensions between the two neighbors heightened in late August, following Israel's drone strike on the office of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement near Beirut and its attack on Palestinian militant positions in eastern Lebanon.
Amid the escalation, the Arab League expressed solidarity with Beirut on Sunday. It also suggested that the current situation met domestic interests of the Israeli leadership, which failed to form a coalition government after the April parliamentary elections and is facing a snap vote later in September.
