Hezbollah and israel exchange missiles
Published: 05:08 PM,Aug 25,2024 | EDITED : 09:08 PM,Aug 25,2024
TOPSHOT - This photo taken from a position in northern Israel shows a Hezbollah UAV intercepted by Israeli air forces over north Israel on August 25, 2024. The Israeli military announced early August 25, 2024 that it was conducting pre-emptive strikes in Lebanon after detecting preparations for "large-scale" attacks by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Hezbollah said it had launched more than 320 rockets at Israel overnight, targeting a string of military positions, even as Israel's military said it was carrying out pre-emptive strikes against the group. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
BEIRUT: Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel early on Sunday, as Israel's military said it struck Lebanon with around 100 jets to thwart a bigger attack, in one of the biggest clashes in more than 10 months of border warfare.
Missiles were visible curling up through the dawn sky, dark vapour trails behind them, as an air raid siren sounded in Israel and a distant blast lit the horizon, while smoke rose over houses in Khiam in southern Lebanon.
Three deaths were confirmed in Lebanon and none in Israel, where damage appeared to be limited. Hezbollah indicated it was not planning further strikes yet. Israel's foreign minister said the country did not seek a full-scale war. Any major escalation in the fighting, which began in parallel with the war in Gaza, risks morphing into a regional conflagration.
Sunday's strikes came as negotiators were meeting in Cairo in a last-ditch effort to conclude a halt to the fighting in Gaza.
The Lebanese group said it had fired 320 Katyusha rockets towards Israel and hit 11 military targets in what it called the first phase of its retaliation for Israel's assassination of Fuad Shukr, a senior commander, last month.
Israel's military said it had foiled a much larger attack with pre-emptive air strikes after assessing that Hezbollah was preparing to launch the barrage, using 100 jets to strike more than 40 Hezbollah launch sites in southern Lebanon.
The strikes destroyed thousands of launcher barrels, aimed mostly at northern Israel but also targeting some central areas, Israel's military said.
Hezbollah dismissed Israel's statement that the group's attack had been foiled with pre-emptive strikes, saying it had been able to launch its drones as planned and that the rest of its response to Shukr's killing would take 'some time'.
FLIGHTS SUSPENDED
Expectations of an escalation had risen since a missile strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last month killed 12 youngsters and the Israeli military assassinated Shukr in Beirut in response.
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met cabinet ministers at a session of the national emergency committee. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah spoke on television later on Sunday, the group said.
Flights to and from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv were suspended for around 90 minutes.
Some flights to and from Beirut were halted, stranding passengers. 'I just want to get out of here by any means possible,' said Rana Saade, a Lebanese woman living in New Jersey.
In northern Israel, warning sirens sounded and multiple explosions were heard around several areas as Israel's Iron Dome aerial defence system shot down rockets coming from southern Lebanon.
The ambulance service went on high alert across the country and said there were no immediate reports of casualties.
A resident of the southern Lebanese town of Zibqeen said he had awakened 'to the sound of planes and the loud explosions of rockets - even before the dawn prayer. It felt like the apocalypse.'
President Joe Biden was following events closely, the White House said.
'At his direction, senior US officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts. We will keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability,' National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said.
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon and the UN's special coordinator's office in the country called on all sides to cease fire, calling the developments 'worrying'.
Egypt, one of the mediators in Gaza ceasefire talks, warned against the dangers of a new war front opening in Lebanon. SEE ALSO P6
Missiles were visible curling up through the dawn sky, dark vapour trails behind them, as an air raid siren sounded in Israel and a distant blast lit the horizon, while smoke rose over houses in Khiam in southern Lebanon.
Three deaths were confirmed in Lebanon and none in Israel, where damage appeared to be limited. Hezbollah indicated it was not planning further strikes yet. Israel's foreign minister said the country did not seek a full-scale war. Any major escalation in the fighting, which began in parallel with the war in Gaza, risks morphing into a regional conflagration.
Sunday's strikes came as negotiators were meeting in Cairo in a last-ditch effort to conclude a halt to the fighting in Gaza.
The Lebanese group said it had fired 320 Katyusha rockets towards Israel and hit 11 military targets in what it called the first phase of its retaliation for Israel's assassination of Fuad Shukr, a senior commander, last month.
Israel's military said it had foiled a much larger attack with pre-emptive air strikes after assessing that Hezbollah was preparing to launch the barrage, using 100 jets to strike more than 40 Hezbollah launch sites in southern Lebanon.
The strikes destroyed thousands of launcher barrels, aimed mostly at northern Israel but also targeting some central areas, Israel's military said.
Hezbollah dismissed Israel's statement that the group's attack had been foiled with pre-emptive strikes, saying it had been able to launch its drones as planned and that the rest of its response to Shukr's killing would take 'some time'.
FLIGHTS SUSPENDED
Expectations of an escalation had risen since a missile strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last month killed 12 youngsters and the Israeli military assassinated Shukr in Beirut in response.
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met cabinet ministers at a session of the national emergency committee. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah spoke on television later on Sunday, the group said.
Flights to and from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv were suspended for around 90 minutes.
Some flights to and from Beirut were halted, stranding passengers. 'I just want to get out of here by any means possible,' said Rana Saade, a Lebanese woman living in New Jersey.
In northern Israel, warning sirens sounded and multiple explosions were heard around several areas as Israel's Iron Dome aerial defence system shot down rockets coming from southern Lebanon.
The ambulance service went on high alert across the country and said there were no immediate reports of casualties.
A resident of the southern Lebanese town of Zibqeen said he had awakened 'to the sound of planes and the loud explosions of rockets - even before the dawn prayer. It felt like the apocalypse.'
President Joe Biden was following events closely, the White House said.
'At his direction, senior US officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts. We will keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability,' National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said.
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon and the UN's special coordinator's office in the country called on all sides to cease fire, calling the developments 'worrying'.
Egypt, one of the mediators in Gaza ceasefire talks, warned against the dangers of a new war front opening in Lebanon. SEE ALSO P6