The Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel early on Sunday, as Israel’s military said it struck Lebanon with around 100 jets to thwart a larger attack.
Footage posted to social media showed Iron Dome missiles intercepting targets coming from Lebanon in Israel’s north. Local media reported rocket sirens across northern Israel, including Golan Heights’s Katzrin as well as in several Upper Galilee border communities. Drone sirens were also reported sounding in several Galilee towns.
As the sirens rang in Israel, Hezbollah released a statement saying that over the past hours it had launched more than 320 rockets and several drones carrying explosives toward northern Israel. The terrorist group said the attacks targeted 11 military bases. It did not mention IDF airstrikes reported in Lebanon.
With three deaths confirmed in Lebanon and one in Israel, both sides indicated they were ready to avoid further escalation for now, but warned that there could be more strikes to come.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the Iranian-backed group’s barrage, a retaliation for the assassination of senior commander Fuad Shukr last month, had been completed “as planned.”
However, the group would assess the impact of its strikes and “if the result is not enough, then we retain the right to respond another time”, he said.
Israel’s foreign minister said the country did not seek a full-scale war, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned, “This is not the end of the story.”
Earlier, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video statement that Israel had identified that Hezbollah was preparing a massive attack on central Israel with missiles and rockets at 5 a.m. He said around 100 IDF warplanes at 4:30 a.m. conducted preemptive airstrikes on Hezbollah launchers in Lebanon, preventing the attack.
Hagari said that Hezbollah did manage to launch around 210 rockets and 20 drones toward northern Israel.
“After extensive identification, the [Israeli Air Force] and Northern Command began proactively and broadly striking Hezbollah targets in order to remove the threats aimed at the citizens of Israel,” he said. “We are removing threats against the Israeli home front. Dozens of IAF jets are currently striking targets in various locations in southern Lebanon. We are continuing to remove threats, and to intensively strike against the Hezbollah terrorist organization.”
Hezbollah said in a later statement that Israel’s claims about its defensive strikes disrupting its planned attacks on central Israel were “empty claims that contradict the facts on the ground.”
Israel’s emergency medical service and blood services organization, MDA, reported in a 6 a.m. post on X that rocket and drone sirens sounded across northern Israel starting from 5 a.m. Sunday morning. It added that so far, no injuries had been reported.
Hagari also sent a warning to Lebanese civilians in southern Lebanon. “We have identified that Hezbollah is firing extensively into Israeli territory near your homes—you are in danger. We are targeting and removing Hezbollah’s threats.”
Twenty minutes earlier, it said in an update that the service had been placed “on peak alert” due to government assessments of Israel’s security situation.
The office of Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that the IDF strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon came in response to confirmations about an imminent major missile and drone attack on Israel. After Hezbollah’s attacks, the minister reached out to numerous counterparts seeking their support for Israel’s defensive actions, stressing that Israel was acting in self-defense and is not interested in a wider war.
The White House said in response, “We will keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability.” The Pentagon said the United States remains committed to the defense of Israel against attacks by Iran and its proxies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, were coordinating the Israeli response from their military headquarters in Tel Aviv. Gallant declared a “special situation on the home front,” and Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet was set to meet later Sunday morning.
The “special situation” includes measures such as some restrictions on civilian movement for at least 48 hours.
Israel had said it was expecting Hezbollah to retaliate for the killing of Shukr this week after the terrorist group vowed to avenge his death. It had claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said was in response to an attack that left a dozen children dead in the Israeli Golan Heights—a charge Hezbollah has denied.
Hagari had said during a Saturday press conference that the military was poised in expectation of a “significant week.”
“Our readiness is very high in attack and defense,” he had said.
By 7 a.m. local time, Israel’s airport authority said that flights in Israel had resumed.
U.S. Air Force General Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in the Middle East on Saturday and met with military leaders in Jordan to discuss options to avoid an escalation in the region. He will also meet with military leaders in Egypt and Israel.
After the Hamas terrorist group launched its Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel of about 1,200 Israelis and taking hostage 250 more, Hezbollah followed with frequent attacks on Israeli communities and military posts along the Lebanon–Israel border. It said its actions were in support of Gaza amid Israel’s vow to eliminate Hamas.
So far, the fighting to Israel’s north with Hezbollah has resulted in dozens of civilian deaths as well as the deaths of IDF members. Hezbollah has named over 400 of its members who have been killed by Israel, mostly in Lebanon but some in neighboring Syria. Dozens of civilians have also been reported killed in Lebanon amid the fighting.
More than 60,000 residents of northern Israel were displaced from their homes for months following Oct. 7 because of concerns that Hezbollah might launch a cross-border attack similar to Hamas. They continue to remain displaced within Israel.
Reuters contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times