Israel’s military launched air raids across southern Lebanon and Hezbollah carried out a large drone and rocket attack.
The escalation came as the Reuters news agency reported no sign of progress in mediated talks for a ceasefire in Gaza. Citing a Palestinian official, it said a Hamas delegation that was in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, has departed the city.
Israeli media outlet Haaretz is reporting that Ronan Bar, the head of the Shin Bet, and David Barnea, the head of the Mossad, have landed in Egypt to attend the ongoing ceasefire talks.
Israel’s Shin Bet, or Shabak as it is known in both Hebrew and Arabic, is the internal intelligence service, and Mossad is Israel’s national intelligence agency.
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has carried out a large-scale attack with rockets and drones on Israeli positions in an “initial response” to a top commander’s killing.
“The number of Katyusha rockets launched until now is more than 320 … towards enemy positions,” Hezbollah said in a statement on Sunday, adding it had targeted 11 Israeli bases and barracks, including on the annexed Golan Heights.
It had earlier also said it “began an air attack with a large number of drones” targeting deep into Israel, while fighters had also targeted “a number of enemy positions and barracks and Iron Dome platforms … with a large number of rockets”.
The “military operations will take some time to complete”, it said.
The Iran-backed movement has exchanged regular fire with Israel in support of its ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war.
But fears of full-blown conflict grew after Iran and Hezbollah vowed revenge for the killing last month, blamed on Israel, of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, and an Israeli strike that killed Fuad Shukr, a top Hezbollah commander, in south Beirut.
The Lebanese movement said its attack came in an “initial response” to Shukr’s killing.
The “first phase has ended with total success”, the group said, adding that this phase sought to “target Israeli barracks and positions to facilitate the passage of attack drones towards targets” deep inside Israel.
Hezbollah also said it was “in a high state of readiness”, adding that “if civilians are harmed, there will be very severe punishment”.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported Israeli strikes on a large number of locations in south Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas hailed the strikes by Lebanon’s Hezbollah against Israel, calling it a “strong and focused response”.
“We emphasise that this strong and focused response, which struck deep inside the Zionist entity, is a slap in the face” for the Israeli government, Hamas said in a statement after Hezbollah said it launched a large-scale operation using rockets and drones
© 2024, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Be the first to comment