Israel and Hezbollah exchange strikes as fears of an all-out war build
JALAA MAREY
- Israel says it carried out "pre-emptive" airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
- The Israel Defense Forces said Hezbollah had been preparing to launch attacks on Israel.
- Hezbollah later said it had fired 320 Katyusha rockets and targeted 11 military sites in Israel.
Israel launched what it called "pre-emptive" airstrikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in the early hours of August 25 after it said it had identified plans for a large attack on its territory.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it believed the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group had been preparing to fire missiles and rockets toward Israel.
"In a self-defense act to remove these threats, the IDF is striking terror targets in Lebanon, from which Hezbollah was planning to launch their attacks on Israeli civilians," Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in an update shared on X.
The IDF later said that Hezbollah had launched over 150 projectiles from Lebanon toward Israeli territory.
It later added that 100 Israeli Air Force fighter jets had "struck and eliminated thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels" that had been set to fire at parts of Israel.
Hezbollah has said that it carried out the "first phase" of a planned attack on Israel in response to the killing of Fuad Shukr, one of the group's top commanders, according to Lebanese media.
The group said it had fired 320 Katyusha rockets and targeted 11 military sites. It added it had completed its operations for the day.
Israel's Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, responded by declaring a 48-hour state of emergency across the nation.
Fears have been building over an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah in recent months.
Gallant said on Sunday that Israel would seek to avoid "regional escalation" and that it would work with the US "to ensure Israel's defense as well as regional stability."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since said that the IDF had "destroyed thousands of short-range rockets."
"This is not the end of the story," he said, adding that "Nasrallah in Beirut and Khamenei in Tehran need to know that this is an additional step in changing the situation in the north."
Hassan Nasrallah is Hezbollah's general secretary, while Ali Khamenei is the Iranian Supreme Leader.