Israel has launched a series of pre-emptive air strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon in a major escalation amid plans for a large-scale attack.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that Tel Aviv will ‘harm whoever harms us’ as the Middle East teeters on the brink of all-out war.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared a 48-hour state of emergency across Israel after Hezbollah said it had fired more than 320 rockets.
The Iranian-backed group had been promising to retaliate for Israel’s assassination of a top commander late last month.
The IDF has said about 100 fighter jets ‘struck and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels’ aimed at northern Israel.
The Lebanese healthy ministry has said that one person was killed after an Israeli strike hit a car in the southern Lebanon town of Khiam. It added that two people – a Lebanese man and a Syrian man – were also being treated for injuries.
Despite the major escalation, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has said the country ‘does not seek an all-out war’ in the region and that it is ‘acting to protect its citizens and territory’ against an ‘axis of evil’ led by Iran.
Air raid sirens were reported throughout northern Israel, and Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport began diverting incoming flights and delaying takeoffs.
Hezbollah announced it had launched an attack on Israel with a ‘large number of drones’ as an initial response to the killing of Fouad Shukur, a top commander with the group, in a strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs last month.
It said the attack was targeting ‘a qualitative Israeli military target that will be announced later’ as well as ‘targeting a number of enemy sites and barracks and Iron Dome platforms’.
The attack came as Egypt hosts a new round of talks aimed at ending Israel’s war against Hamas, now in its 11th month. Hezbollah has said it will halt the fighting if there is a ceasefire.
In a message to his country, Netanyahu said: ‘Early in the morning we identified Hezbollah’s preparations to attack Israel. In consultation with the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff, we instructed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to act proactively to remove the threat.
‘The IDF has since been working vigorously to thwart the threats. It destroyed thousands of rockets aimed at the north of the country. It also thwarts many other threats and operates with great power, both in defence and attack.
‘I ask you, citizens of Israel, to follow the directives of the Home Front Command. We are determined to do everything possible to protect our country, to return the residents of the north safely to their homes and to continue to uphold a simple rule:
‘Whoever harms us – we harm him.’
He added: ‘Most of our activity at the moment is in southern Lebanon, but we will attack anywhere, anywhere in Lebanon where there is a threat to the State of Israel.’
Last week, Israel’s defence minister said he was moving more troops towards the Lebanese border in anticipation of possible fighting with the Iranian-backed group.
Israel’s military spokesman, rear admiral Daniel Hagari, said: ‘In a self-defence act to remove these threats, the (Israeli military) is striking terror targets in Lebanon, from which Hezbollah was planning to launch their attacks on Israeli civilians.’
‘We can see that Hezbollah is preparing to launch an extensive attack on Israel while endangering the Lebanese civilians,’ he added, without providing details.
‘We warn the civilians located in the areas where Hezbollah is operating to move out of harm’s way immediately for their own safety.’
Lebanese media reported strikes in the country’s south without immediately providing more details. Social media footage showed what appeared to be strikes in southern Lebanon.
Israeli media cited the Israel Airports Authority for news of the flight cancellations. Flight-tracking data showed at least two El Al flights swinging far south and diverting after the announcement.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after the war with Hamas erupted on October 7 with a Hamas cross-border attack.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire nearly daily, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border and raising fears that the fighting could escalate into all-out war.
But until Sunday, both sides have been careful to avoid a broader conflagration.
Hezbollah is considered much more powerful than its ally, Hamas, with an estimated arsenal of arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles.
In recent months the group has also stepped up its use of drones, against which Israel is less well-equipped to defend.
Netanyahu’s office said he and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, were managing the latest operation from military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Mr Gallant declared a ‘special situation on the home front’ and Mr Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet was set to meet later today.