Israel Strikes Lebanon, Hezbollah Announces Major Attack

The Israeli army announced on Sunday that it was carrying out strikes in Lebanon after having Hezbollah's preparations for “large-scale attacks” detected against Israel, the Shiite armed movement claiming for its part to have launched hundreds of drones and rockets towards its enemy.

L The Israeli army reported on X that Hezbollah fired “more than 150 projectiles from Lebanon into Israel” on Sunday morning.

The Shiite movement, allied with the Palestinian Hamas, claimed in a statement that it had “begun an air attack using a large number of drones” against Israel, and in particular against an “important military target” that it did not identify.

“The number of Katyusha rockets launched so far is more than 320,” Hezbollah wrote in another statement, saying it had targeted eleven Israeli bases and barracks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a meeting of the security cabinet at 0400 GMT.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared a state of emergency throughout Israel for 48 hours starting Sunday. 06:00 (03:00 GMT), saying it was “convinced that there is a strong probability that an attack will be carried out against the civilian population also in other areas of the country.”

Due to the strikes, all flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday morning are delayed or diverted, Ben Gurion Airport announced.

A Hezbollah drone flies over northern Israel, August 25, 2024 © AFP – Jalaa MAREY

These clashes broke out in the midst of negotiations in Cairo aimed at establishing a truce in the war in the Gaza Strip. This was triggered by an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

Exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, a movement supported by Iran, have been almost daily since the start of the war in Gaza.

For several weeks, the international community has been warning of a possible regional spillover of the conflict. Especially since the death of a Hezbollah military leader in late July, killed by an Israeli strike in Lebanon, and that in Tehran of the former leader of Hamas, attributed to Israel by Iran. Hezbollah and Tehran have vowed to retaliate.

– Fighter jets –

In a video message on the social network X, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said that “fighter jets are currently attacking Hezbollah targets.”

The strikes came after the Israeli army observed “Hezbollah's preparations for large-scale attacks on Israeli territory,” the army wrote in an Arabic message on Telegram to residents of southern Lebanon.

A Hezbollah drone intercepted by Israeli air defense near the Israel-Lebanon border on August 25, 2024 © AFP – Jalaa MAREY

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“Anyone near areas where Hezbollah operates must leave immediately to protect themselves and their families,” she urged, stressing that the army “will do whatever is necessary to protect the citizens of Israel.”

Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV channel reported a series of Israeli raids targeting the forests of Kounin Rashf, Al-Tayri, Beit Yahoun, Al-Khardali, Zawtar, Iqlim Al-Tuffah and Al-Rayhan in southern Lebanon. Lebanon.

Since October, violence between Israel and Hezbollah has left more than 600 dead in Lebanon, mainly fighters from the Shiite movement but also at least 131 civilians, according to an AFP count. In Israel and on the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, 23 soldiers and 26 civilians have died in this violence, according to Israeli authorities.

A Hezbollah drone is destroyed by Israeli air defenses, August 25, 2024 © AFP – Jalaa MAREY

US President Joe Biden is “closely following events,” said a spokesman for the National Security Council, Sean Savett. “American officials are in constant communication with their Israeli counterparts. We will continue to support Israel's right to defend itself and work for regional stability,” he added.

A Pentagon spokesman said the United States was “ready to support” Israel's defense.

– “Pivotal” day –

It is in this more than tense context that negotiators in Cairo are trying to obtain a truce in the Gaza Strip.

A new round of talks was launched on Thursday in the Egyptian capital in the presence of Israeli foreign and domestic intelligence chiefs David Barnea and Ronen Bar, CIA Director William Burns, White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, and Egyptian and Qatari intelligence chiefs.

Map of southern Lebanon and northern Israel © AFP – Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA, Paz PIZARRO

A Hamas delegation that traveled to Cairo will not take part in the talks, but was due to meet Egyptian officials on Saturday evening, a senior member of the Islamist movement said.

For months, mediators — Qatar, Egypt, and the United States — have been trying to convince Hamas and Israel to end hostilities that have lasted for more than ten months, but so far without success.

An Egyptian source close to the negotiations in Cairo said, before the clashes between Israel and Hezbollah broke out, that Sunday would be “a pivotal stage”, after Washington spoke of “progress”.

The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by an unprecedented offensive by Hamas on October 7 in Israeli territory, which resulted in the death of 1,199 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data.

251 people were also kidnapped that day: 105 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the army.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza has left at least 40,334 dead, according to the Hamas government's Health Ministry, which does not provide details on the number of civilians and fighters killed. According to the UN, most of the dead are women and children.

The offensive has caused a humanitarian and health disaster and displaced 90% of the territory's 2.4 million inhabitants, according to the UN.

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