HEZBULLAH said it completed the first phase of its attacks on Israel with a large number of missiles in response to the killing of commander Fuad Shukr in late July. The Lebanese group fired more than 320 Katyusha rockets at 11 Israeli military bases and barracks, including the Meron base and four sites in the occupied Golan Heights.
It said it targeted the military base by facilitating the drones’ journey to their desired targets deep inside Israeli territory. “And the drones have gone according to plan,” Hezbollah said in a statement on Sunday (8/25).
It came as Israel launched a series of intensive airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Sunday (25/8) morning in a pre-emptive strike launched when it detected Hezbollah preparing to attack northern Israel.
While Hezbollah and Israel have been trading attacks on each other’s border with some intensity since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, this marks a significant escalation. “Most of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon have been in the border area, up to five kilometres deep along the 120km border,” said Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut.
“The border area is now a military zone. Civilians have been evacuated. The city has been repeatedly attacked by the Israeli army in recent months,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to hold a security council meeting on Sunday (8/25) morning while the defense minister has declared a special situation for 48 hours.
Read also: Hezbollah Fires Dozens of Missiles at Israel
Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport was closed in the early hours. Several reports emerged of injuries in northern Israel. Meanwhile, cities opened bomb shelters to the public.
“There are reports that the initial wave of attacks in southern Lebanon has now ended. So we are waiting for news from the Israeli military to know whether they are planning to carry out more attacks or not. This in turn could trigger a response from Hezbollah and widen this conflict,” Khodr said.
“This conflict is extremely dangerous, although largely contained. There are real concerns that it could escalate and get out of control,” he added.
Global fears that Israel’s war could escalate into a regional conflict grew after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month and Shukr in Beirut. Both killings were blamed on Israel.
Sunday’s attack came as Egypt hosted a new round of talks aimed at ending Israel’s war on the Palestinian Gaza Strip, now in its 11th month. Hezbollah has said it will halt fighting if there is a ceasefire. (Z-2)
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