On Sunday, Israel carried out a wave of pre-emptive strikes across southern Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah’s rocket launchers.
According to a BBC news report, the Israeli military claimed that the operation aimed to stop a large-scale rocket and drone attack that Hezbollah was planning. Israeli jets destroyed thousands of rocket launchers, and Hezbollah reported that three of its fighters were killed.
In response, Hezbollah fired 320 rockets and drones at Israel, claiming to have hit 11 Israeli military sites. They described the barrage as a response to the assassination of senior military commander Fuad Shukr, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut on July 30. According to Israel's military, one Israeli Navy soldier was killed.
The violence led to multiple deaths.
The Lebanese ministry of public health reported that one person was killed in a drone strike on a car in Khiam, while another two were killed in an Israeli attack on the village of Tiri. The IDF confirmed that an Israeli Navy soldier "fell during combat in northern Israel."
Rising Tensions
Israel's attack on Hezbollah at around 04:30 (01:30 GMT) on Sunday was its biggest since the full-scale war between them in 2006.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the strikes were "an additional step in changing the situation in the north."
He stated that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "need to know" that Israel would not tolerate threats from the north.
Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said in a televised address that the group had targeted a military intelligence base about 110 kilometers into Israeli territory. He claimed that Hezbollah had been able to carry out its attack as planned and warned that they would respond again if the results were deemed insufficient.
International Concerns
The US is working to prevent further escalation after 10 months of hostilities that have raised fears of an all-out war.
The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, expressed hope that the latest fighting would not lead to a regional war.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for a halt to the "Israeli aggression" and emphasized Lebanon’s support for international efforts to broker a Gaza ceasefire and a hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.
Since October, more than 560 people have been reported killed by Lebanon's health ministry, the vast majority of them Hezbollah fighters, while 26 civilians and 23 soldiers have been killed in Israel, according to authorities.
The UN says almost 200,000 people have been displaced on both sides of the border.
