Israel launched a wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon early Sunday in what it called a preemptive strike against Hezbollah. The militant group responded by launching hundreds of rockets and drones in retaliation for the killing of one of its top commanders last month.
The exchange of major attacks appeared to have fallen short of the long-feared war, but the situation remained tense. Meanwhile, Egypt hosted high-level talks Sunday aimed at brokering a ceasefire in the 10-month-old Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Diplomats hope the talks will ease regional tensions.
The Israeli military said it struck because Hezbollah was planning to launch a barrage of rockets and missiles toward Israel. Shortly afterward, Hezbollah announced it had launched attacks on Israeli military positions in initial response to the killing of Fouad Shukur, one of its founding members, in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month.
By midmorning, the exchange of fire appeared to have ended, with both sides saying they were targeting only military targets. At least three people were killed in the Lebanese attack, while there were no reports of casualties on the Israeli side.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the start of a Cabinet meeting, said the military had eliminated “thousands of rockets aimed at northern Israel” and urged citizens to obey directives from the Home Front Command.
“We are determined to do everything to defend our country, to return the people of the north in peace to their homes and to continue to uphold a simple rule: Whoever hurts us — we will hurt them,” he said.
Air raid sirens and flight diversions
Air raid sirens were reportedly heard throughout northern Israel, and Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport was closed and flights were diverted for about an hour due to the threat of attack.
Israel's Home Front Command raised the alert level in northern Israel and urged residents to stay away from bomb shelters.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said Hezbollah intended to strike targets in northern and central Israel. He said initial assessments found “very little damage” in Israel, but the military remained on high alert. He said about 100 Israeli aircraft took part in Sunday’s strikes.
Lebanon's Health Ministry said two people were killed and two others wounded in an attack in southern Lebanon. Separately, a fighter from the Amal group, which is allied to Hezbollah, was killed in an attack on a car, Amal said.
Hezbollah said its strikes included more than 320 Katyusha rockets aimed at several locations in Israel and a “large number” of drones. The group said the operation targeted “qualitative Israeli military targets to be announced later” as well as “enemy sites and barracks and the Iron Dome (missile defense) platform.”
Hezbollah later announced the end of what it said was the first phase of the retaliatory strikes, which it said would allow it to launch more strikes deeper into Israel. But a later statement said “the military operation for today is over.”
The group said all of the explosive drones it launched hit targets, without specifying how many. It listed 11 bases, barracks and military positions it said were targeted in northern Israel and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. It also denied Israeli claims that it had thwarted a more powerful Hezbollah attack. Hezbollah did not provide evidence for its claims.
Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Institute, said Sunday morning’s exchange of fire “was within the rules and guidelines of engagement and is unlikely at this point to lead to all-out war.”
In the US, National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said President Joe Biden was “closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon.”
“At his direction, senior U.S. officials have been in constant communication with their Israeli counterparts,” Savett added. “We will continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself, and we will continue to work for regional stability.”
The Pentagon said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant about Israel's defense. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown, is on a visit to the region that is expected to take him to Israel, Egypt and Jordan.
Growing fears of all-out war
In recent weeks, diplomats from the US and European countries have made a series of visits to Israel and Lebanon in an effort to defuse an escalation they fear could escalate into a regional war.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel soon after the start of the war in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire almost daily, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border. Until Sunday, both sides had been careful to avoid all-out war.
Hezbollah, which fought Israel to a stalemate in the summer of 2006, is believed to be far stronger than it was at the start of that conflict. The United States and Israel estimate that it now has about 150,000 rockets and is capable of striking anywhere inside Israel. The group has also developed drones capable of evading Israeli defenses, as well as precision-guided munitions.
Israel has one of the world’s best militaries and a vast, multi-tiered missile defense system, and is backed by a U.S.-led coalition that helped it shoot down hundreds of missiles and drones fired from Iran earlier this year. The U.S. military has been ramping up its troop buildup across the region in recent weeks.
Israel has vowed to respond with a crushing blow in the event of an all-out war, which would likely destroy vital civilian infrastructure, especially in southern Beirut and southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is a major stronghold. A war would likely displace hundreds of thousands of people on both sides.
Hezbollah is a close ally of Iran, which has also threatened to retaliate for the killing of a senior Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in a blast in Tehran last month. Israel was widely blamed for the killing, but has so far neither denied nor confirmed its involvement. (lt/ab)
