Israel and Hezbollah alternate heavy fireplace, elevating fears of a regional struggle

JERUSALEM — Israel launched a wave of airstrikes throughout southern Lebanon early Sunday in what it mentioned was a preemptive strike on Hezbollah, because the militant group mentioned it had launched a whole bunch of rockets and drones to avenge the killing of considered one of its high commanders final month.

The heavy alternate of fireside got here amid mounting fears of an all-out struggle that might attract america, Iran and its militant allies throughout the area.

The Israeli navy mentioned it struck as a result of Hezbollah was planning to launch a heavy barrage of rockets and missiles towards Israel. Quickly after, Hezbollah introduced it had launched an assault on Israeli navy positions as an preliminary response to the killing of Fouad Shukur, considered one of its founders, in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut final month.

By mid-morning, it appeared that the alternate had ended, with either side saying they’d solely aimed toward navy targets. A minimum of three individuals have been killed within the strikes on Lebanon, whereas there have been no stories of casualties in Israel. The state of affairs remained tense.

U.S. and Arab mediators have been attempting to dealer a cease-fire within the 10-month-old Israel-Hamas struggle in Gaza, hoping to go off a wider conflagration, and the assaults got here as Egypt hosts a brand new spherical of talks. Hezbollah has mentioned it is going to halt the preventing if there’s a cease-fire in Gaza. Iran helps each teams in addition to militants in Syria, Iraq and Yemen who may be part of any bigger battle.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, talking initially of a Cupboard assembly, mentioned the navy had eradicated “thousands of rockets that were aimed at northern Israel” and urged residents to stick to directives from the House Entrance Command.

“We are determined to do everything to defend our country, to return the residents of the north securely to their homes and to continue upholding a simple rule: Whoever harms us — we will harm them,” he mentioned.

Air raid sirens and flight diversions

Air raid sirens have been reported all through northern Israel, and Israel’s Ben-Gurion worldwide airport closed and diverted flights for about an hour as a result of risk of assault. Israel’s House Entrance Command raised the alert degree in northern Israel and inspired individuals to remain close to bomb shelters.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli navy spokesman, mentioned Hezbollah had meant to hit targets in northern and central Israel. He mentioned preliminary assessments discovered “very little damage” in Israel, however that the navy remained on excessive alert. He mentioned round 100 Israeli plane took half in Sunday’s strikes.

Lebanon’s Well being Ministry reported that two individuals have been killed and one other two wounded within the strikes in southern Lebanon. Individually, a fighter for the Amal group, which is allied with Hezbollah, was killed in a strike on a automobile, Amal mentioned.

Hezbollah mentioned its assault concerned greater than 320 Katyusha rockets aimed toward a number of websites in Israel and a “large number” of drones. It mentioned the operation was concentrating on “a qualitative Israeli military target that will be announced later” in addition to “enemy sites and barracks and Iron Dome (missile defense) platforms.”

Hezbollah later introduced the top of what it mentioned was the primary stage of retaliatory strikes, which it mentioned would enable it to launch extra assaults deeper into Israel. However a later assertion mentioned “military operations for today have been completed.”

The group mentioned all of the exploding drones it launched hit their targets, with out saying what number of. It listed 11 bases, barracks and navy positions that it mentioned it focused in northern Israel and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. It additionally dismissed Israel’s declare that its preemptive strikes had succeeded in avoiding a stronger Hezbollah assault. Hezbollah didn’t present proof for its claims.

Randa Slim, a senior fellow on the Washington, D.C.-based Center East Institute, mentioned Sunday morning’s alternate was “still within the rules of engagement and unlikely at this point to lead to an all out war.”

Within the U.S., a spokesman for the Nationwide Safety Council, Sean Savett, mentioned President Joe Biden was “closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon.”

“At his direction, senior U.S. officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts,” Savett added. “We will keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability.”

The Pentagon said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, about Israel’s defenses. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown, is on a visit to the region that is expected to take him to Israel, Egypt and Jordan.

Rising fears of an all-out war

In recent weeks, diplomats from the U.S. and European countries have made a flurry of visits to Israel and Lebanon in an attempt to tamp down the escalation that they fear could spiral into a regional war.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after the start of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel. Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire almost daily, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border. Until Sunday, both sides had been careful to avoid all-out war.

Hezbollah, which fought Israel to a stalemate in the summer of 2006, is believed to be far more powerful than it was during that conflict. The United States and Israel estimate it has some 150,000 rockets and is capable of hitting anywhere inside Israel. The group has also developed drones capable of evading Israel’s defenses, as well as precision-guided munitions.

Israel has one of many world’s finest militaries and an intensive multi-tiered missile protection system, and it’s backed by a U.S.-led coalition that helped it shoot down a whole bunch of missiles and drones fired from Iran earlier this yr. The U.S. navy has been increase its forces throughout the area in current weeks.

Israel has vowed a crushing response within the case of all-out struggle, one that will probably demolish important civilian infrastructure, particularly in south Beirut and southern Lebanon, the place Hezbollah’s essential strongholds are positioned. A struggle would probably displace a whole bunch of hundreds of individuals on either side.

Hezbollah is an in depth ally of Iran, which has additionally threatened to retaliate for the killing of a senior Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, in an explosion in Tehran final month that was broadly blamed on Israel, which has not mentioned whether or not it was concerned.

Egypt hosts high-level Gaza talks

The U.S. and different mediators see a cease-fire in Gaza as key to heading off a wider Mideast conflagration. Egypt is internet hosting high-level talks in Cairo on Sunday aimed toward bridging the gaps in an evolving proposal for a truce and the discharge of scores of hostages held by Hamas.

The talks have been to be attended by CIA director William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s chief intelligence official, Abbas Kamel, in accordance with two Egyptian officers who spoke on situation of anonymity to debate the delicate negotiations. The top of Israel’s Mossad intelligence company, David Barnea, can also be anticipated to attend, they mentioned.

Hamas despatched a delegation to the Egyptian capital to be briefed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators however is just not immediately collaborating within the negotiations.