Hezbollah launches ‘first phase’ of retaliatory attacks against Israel after commander’s assassination

Lebanese group Hezbollah announced on Sunday that it had launched hundreds of rockets and drones deep into Israel as part of the “first phase” of its response to Tel Aviv’s assassination of its senior commander Fouad Shukr, Anadolu news agency reported.

The announcement came shortly after the Israeli army attacked southern Lebanon with a large-scale air strike that it called a “preemptive strike,” claiming to have prevented Hezbollah from launching an attack.

In a statement, Hezbollah said that “the first stage of our response to Shukr’s assassination has been successfully completed.”

“The initial phase involved targeting Israeli barracks and sites to facilitate the passage of offensive drones toward their intended targets deep within the Israeli entity,” it added. “These drones have successfully reached their destinations as planned.”

Hezbollah said 11 Israeli military sites were targeted, including the Meron, Zaatoun, Al-Sahl, Nafah, Yarden, and Ein Zeitim bases, as well as the Kela, UF, Ramot Naftali, Neve Ziv, and Zarura camps, all in northern Israel.

The group also claimed that the drone attack coincided with strikes on several Israeli military sites, barracks, and Iron Dome missile defence systems in northern Israel with a large number of rockets.

The Israeli army said it launched pre-emptive strikes in southern Lebanon to prevent the Hezbollah barrage.

Military spokesman Avichay Adraee claimed that the attack involved 100 fighter jets and was intended to prevent an impending missile and rocket attack on northern and central Israel.

“We have recently detected preparations by Hezbollah to launch rockets and missiles towards Israel. As a result, we are attacking to eliminate the threat,” the army said in a statement.

Israeli authorities halted all flights to and from Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv.

According to an Anadolu correspondent, Israeli fighter jets simultaneously launched more than 40 air strikes on 17 areas and towns in southern Lebanon.

Ambulances were seen rushing to some of the targeted locations.

Witnesses also reported the launch of dozens of rockets and attack drones from Lebanese territory towards Israel.

Israeli media, including Channel 12, reported that air raid sirens were sounding in several cities in northern Israel.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant informed his US counterpart Lloyd Austin by phone that Israeli air strikes had thwarted Hezbollah’s attacks. “Minister Gallant and Secretary Austin discussed the importance of avoiding regional escalation,” a defence ministry statement said.

According to Israeli media, Gallant also declared a 48-hour emergency in the country, according to Israeli media.

Since October 8, 2023, Hezbollah has been engaged in daily exchanges of fire with the Israeli army across the Lebanese-Israeli border, resulting in hundreds of casualties, mostly on the Lebanese side.

Fears of a full-fledged war between Israel and Hezbollah have grown amid an exchange of cross-border attacks, and after the 30 July assassination of senior Hezbollah Commander, Fouad Shukr, in Beirut.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of the conflict in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians since the 7 October Hamas incursion. The military campaign has reduced much of the Territory to rubble, and left most of the people homeless, hungry and prone to disease.

READ: Lebanon’s premier calls emergency ministerial meeting after Israel’s massive air raid