On the afternoon of Wednesday 14 February, a salvo of rockets from Lebanon struck northern Israel, hitting a military base in particular. A 20-year-old soldier was killed in the attack, which also wounded eight people, Ednews reports the following referring to Liberation.

"This is war", thundered the ultra-nationalist Israeli Minister for National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir.

In just one hour of retaliation, the Israeli air force bombed more than half a dozen Lebanese towns, claiming to be targeting Hezbollah command posts. During this unprecedentedly large-scale operation, the strikes went deep into the territories. Tony, a student, recounts hearing an explosion from Jezzine, a town perched in the Chouf mountains, some twenty kilometres from the border: "It sounded like an earthquake, it's the first time a village has been targeted here". Two hours later, Israeli aircraft were still flying over the region, which until then had been spared the exchange of fire between Tsahal and Hezbollah. The Shiite militia has been targeting northern Israel since 8 October, in support of its Hamas allies.

On the diplomatic front, the escalation is worrying. "The Israelis are becoming impatient with the negotiations", explains a foreign diplomatic source. According to this source, Israel is threatening a ground operation if the negotiations are not concluded within the next month. Between now and then, the conflict could tip at any moment", says a second source close to the talks. Escalation can start with an incident and a disproportionate response."