Jerusalem: Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across southern Lebanon early yesterday in what it called a preemptive strike to avert a large Hezbollah rocket and missile attack. The Lebanese group said it fired hundreds of rockets and drones to avenge the killing of a top commander last month.
Both sides halted the heavy exchange of fire by mid-morning, signalling no immediate further escalation. It came as Egypt hosted high-level talks aimed at a ceasefire in the 10-month-old war in Gaza that diplomats hope will ease regional tensions.
Israel and Hezbollah said they aimed only at military targets. Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said its attack had been delayed to give ceasefire talks a chance and the target was an Israeli military intelligence base close to Tel Aviv.
Israel's military said one soldier with the navy was killed and two others were wounded either by an interceptor for incoming fire, or by shrapnel from one. Two Hezbollah fighters and a militant from an allied group were killed, the groups said.
Hezbollah called its attack on Israeli military positions an initial response to the killing of Fouad Shukur in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month. Nasrallah said assaults on Israel will continue "because there is still the response of (allies) Iran and Yemen.”
Air raid sirens were reported throughout northern Israel, and Israel's international airport closed and diverted flights for about an hour. Israel’s Home Front Command later lifted restrictions in most areas.
An Israeli military spokesman said Hezbollah intended to hit targets in northern and central Israel. He said initial assessments found "very little damage” but the military remained on high alert. He said around 100 Israeli aircraft took part in the strikes.
Hezbollah said its attack involved more than 320 Katyusha rockets aimed at multiple sites in Israel and a "large number” of drones. It said the operation targeted "a qualitative Israeli military target that will be announced later” as well as "enemy sites and barracks and Iron Dome (missile defence) platforms.”
Hezbollah said the strikes would allow it to launch more attacks deeper into Israel, but a later statement said "military operations for today have been completed.” It dismissed Israel's claim to have thwarted a stronger attack. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah provided evidence for their claims.
Lebanon’s caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam, after an emergency government meeting, said officials were "feeling a bit more optimistic” about a de-escalation. "We feel more reassured since both sides confirmed that the expected operations ended,” he said.
US President Joe Biden was "closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon," according to Sean Savett, a spokesman for the National Security Council. The Pentagon said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown, is on a regional visit that includes Israel, Egypt and Jordan.
Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Washington, DC-based Middle East Institute, called the exchange of fire "still within the rules of engagement and unlikely at this point to lead to an all-out war.”
Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after the start of the war in Gaza, . Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost daily, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.
Hezbollah, which fought Israel to a stalemate in 2006, is believed to be far more powerful now. The United States and Israel estimate it has some 150,000 rockets and is capable of hitting anywhere inside Israel. The group has also developed drones capable of evading Israel's defences, as well as precision-guided munitions.
