Hezbollah, Israel exchange heavy fire amid fears of escalation By Reuters
Written by Timour Azhari and Miro Maman
BEIRUT/HAIFA, Israel (Reuters) – Israel and Hezbollah clashed on Sunday, with Israeli warplanes carrying out the heaviest bombing in nearly a year of unrest in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the strikes would continue until it was safe for people displaced in the north to return – setting the stage for a long-running conflict as Hezbollah vowed to continue fighting until the war in Gaza ended.
“In the past few days, we have dealt Hezbollah a number of blows that it did not expect,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement. “If Hezbollah does not understand the message, I promise you, they will understand the message.”
The clashes – which escalated last week – have since Hezbollah launched a second war against Israel, saying it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians who are facing Israel’s offensive in southern Gaza.
Israel’s military said it hit about 290 rockets Saturday, including thousands of Hezbollah rockets, and that it would continue to strike more.
Israel has closed schools, banned gatherings in the north and ordered hospitals to move patients and staff to shelters – many sheltered or underground designed to withstand rocket fire.
Air raid bells rang constantly in Israel. About 150 rockets, missiles and drones were fired at Israel overnight into Sunday, most of which were intercepted by aircraft, including an “air target” from the east, the military said.
Several buildings were hit, including a destroyed house near the Israeli city of Haifa. Rescue teams treated the injured but there were no reports of casualties. Residents were ordered to stay near bomb shelters and safe rooms.
Hezbollah said it hit a vehicle and another Israeli position with airstrikes on Sunday.
It said it had launched rockets at military and industrial facilities as an “initial response” to a two-day attack last week in which pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members exploded.
That attack, believed to be carried out by Israel, killed 39 people and left more than 3,000 injured. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.
The head of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a group of armed groups backed by Iran, said they launched an attack on Israel early Sunday as part of a “new phase of our support” with Lebanon.
“The expansion of Lebanon means the expansion of Iraq,” the official said.
The move will raise fears that the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon could spread to the rest of the region.
The UN special coordinator in Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasscharet, said in the X post that “as the region is on the brink of an imminent crisis, it cannot be overstated enough: NO military solution will make either side safe”.
CONTINUOUS ATTACK
The deadly attack came less than 48 hours after an Israeli airstrike targeted Hezbollah commanders in the suburbs of the Lebanese capital. The number of dead in this strike has increased to 45, said the Ministry of Health in Lebanon on Sunday.
Hezbollah said 16 members, including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and another commander, Ahmed Wahbi, were among those killed on Friday in the deadliest strike in over a year against Israel.
The Israeli army said it had attacked the secret gathering of Aqil and the leaders of the Hezbollah militia in Radwan, and had almost destroyed all their military channels.
The attack hit a multi-storey building in a crowded area and damaged a neighboring kindergarten, a security source said. At least three children and seven women were among those who died, according to the health ministry.
Israel wants Hezbollah to stop firing and withdraw troops from the border region, following a UN resolution signed with Israel in 2006, regardless of the Gaza deal.
Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border since Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in October in sympathy with the Palestinians in Gaza.
With at least 84 people killed in Lebanon last week, the number of clashes in the country since October has surpassed 750 during the worst Israeli-Hezbollah outbreak since the 2006 war.
The conflict in Gaza began on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting about 250 people, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s subsequent offensive in the area has killed more than 41,300 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, plunged Gaza into a humanitarian crisis and displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million people.
