Tensions between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel have escalated. The pro-Iranian group announced on Sunday that it had launched hundreds of drones and rockets against military targets in Israel in response to the assassination of one of its leaders, with the Israeli army claiming to have carried out preemptive strikes in Lebanon to prevent a “large-scale attack.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an early morning security cabinet meeting and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared a state of emergency in Israel for 48 hours.
US ‘ready to support’ Israel’s defense
As US President Joe Biden “closely follows events”, a Pentagon spokesperson said the United States was “ready to support” the defense of Israel, its ally.
Armed and financed by Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy, Hezbollah has threatened Israel, Lebanon’s neighbor, with a response after the death of one of its military leaders Fouad Chokr, killed on July 30 in an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Hezbollah, along with Iran and the Palestinian Hamas – engaged in a war against Israel in Gaza for more than ten months – have also threatened to respond to the assassination attributed to Israel of former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.
“More than 320 rockets”
In a statement in Beirut, Hezbollah said it had launched “an airstrike using a large number of drones” on Israeli territory. It added that it had fired “more than 320” Katyusha rockets at 11 military bases in Israel and the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
Hezbollah later said its attack was “completed” by Sunday and had been “completed successfully.” The attack targeted “Israeli barracks and positions in order to facilitate the passage of attack drones” into “deep” Israeli territory, according to the movement, which wields a preponderant influence in Lebanon.
“Eliminate threats to Israeli citizens”
Hezbollah has denied “allegations” by Israel that it had foiled a large-scale attack. Claiming to have carried out preemptive strikes in Lebanon, the Israeli army said that “about a hundred” of its planes had destroyed “thousands of rocket launchers” of the Lebanese movement.
The operation was launched to “eliminate threats to Israeli citizens,” the army said. It reported on X that Hezbollah had fired “more than 150 projectiles from Lebanon toward Israel.” Israeli authorities did not immediately report any military positions hit.
Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to “do everything” for the “security” of the inhabitants of the north of the country, bordering southern Lebanon, a sector mainly targeted by Hezbollah fire.
According to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV channel, the Israeli raids targeted the forests of Kounin Rashf, Al-Tayri, Beit Yahoun, Al-Khardali, Zawtar, Iqlim Al-Tuffah and Al-Rayhan in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese Health Ministry reported one death.
Flights resume in Tel Aviv
After planes were delayed and landings diverted to other airports in Israel, the Israeli Civil Aviation Authority announced the resumption of flights to and from Tel Aviv. Beirut airport was operating normally Sunday morning.
For weeks, the international community has said it fears a regional military escalation between Iran and its allies on the one hand and Israel on the other, at a time when the war in Gaza continues.
This was triggered on October 7 by an unprecedented attack by Hamas against Israel. The next day, Hezbollah opened a front against Israel, in “support” of Hamas and since then the border between the two countries has been caught in a spiral of violence.
Source AFP
