Israel-Hezbollah Strikes Counterstrikes
Hezbollah has launched hundreds of rockets and drones against Israel on Sunday. The barrage was in retaliation for the assassination of a senior commander in Beirut last month, the Iranian-backed movement said. Early in the morning, Israel’s cabinet immediately met to prepare a response. Then, Israeli jets hit targets in Lebanon shortly before the strikes, the military said. A Hezbollah statement said it had launched more than 320 Katyusha rockets towards Israel and hit 11 military targets. It said the barrage had completed “the first phase” of its response. The attacks, it said, were in reply to the assassination of Fuad Shukr, a senior commander, in Beirut. But Hezbollah added the full response would take “some time”.
Israel’s Response
Israel‘s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would do whatever necessary to defend itself. “We have conducted precise strikes in Lebanon in order to thwart an imminent threat against the citizens of Israel. We are closely following developments in Beirut. In a statement, Gallant said, “We will use all the means at our disposal to defend our citizens.” An Israeli military spokesperson added that while most of the Israeli strikes were hitting targets in southern Lebanon, it was ready to strike anywhere there was a threat. Gallant declared a state of emergency and suspended flights to and from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. However, the airports authority expected normal operations to resume soon.
Hezbollah Barrage
In northern Israel, warning sirens sounded and multiple explosions were heard around several areas. Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defence system shot down rockets coming from southern Lebanon. Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said it was on high alert all over the country. The Israeli military issued civil defence instructions limiting gatherings. But it authorised people to go to their workplaces as long as they were able to reach air raid shelters quickly. There were no casualties immediately reported in Israel, according to the ambulance service.
A resident of the southern Lebanese town of Zibqeen, 7 km from the border said it was the first time he had awakened “to the sound of planes and the loud explosions of rockets – even before the dawn prayer. It felt like the apocalypse.
Fears Of A Regional Conflict
Expectations of an escalation between the two sides have risen since a missile strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last month. That killed 12 children. The Israeli military assassinated Shukr in Beirut in response. The escalation has drawn fears of a wider regional conflict. That could potentially involve both the United States and Iran. President Joe Biden was following events closely, the White House said. “At his direction, senior U.S. officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts. We will keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability,” said National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett.
Ceasefire Talks
The Israel Hezbollah strike counterstrikes came as negotiators were meeting in Cairo in a last-ditch effort to conclude a halt to fighting in Gaza and a return of Israeli and foreign hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Hezbollah started firing missiles at Israel immediately after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas gunmen on Israel. Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire constantly ever since. So far they have avoided a major escalation as war rages in Gaza to the south. That precarious balance appears to have shifted after the strike in the Golan Heights. Hezbollah has denied responsibility for that attack. Shukr’s death in an air strike was quickly followed by the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, which led to vows of reprisal against Israel by Iran.
(With Reuters Inputs)
