The Israeli military and the pro-Iranian Lebanese militant group Hezbollah clashed with each other and exchanged large-scale airstrikes.
On the 25th (local time), the Israeli military mobilized around 100 fighter jets and preemptively attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, saying it had detected signs of a Hezbollah attack. In response, Hezbollah declared retaliation for the assassination of a senior commander last month by launching more than 300 rockets at Israel.
According to Reuters, AP and AFP, the Israeli military deployed about 100 fighter jets at around 4:30 a.m. on this day and attacked rocket launchers in southern Lebanon. Israel announced this development immediately after the start of the airstrike and informed its residents in the north to evacuate to a safe place. In southern Lebanon, it also warned in a message in Arabic: “We are attacking and eliminating the threat of Hezbollah.”
At around 5 a.m., hundreds of rockets and drones launched by Hezbollah flew toward northern Israel and airstrike warnings were issued one after another. Hezbollah claimed that it fired around 320 rockets and attacked 11 military bases with drones in retaliation for the death of senior commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli bombing in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on the 30th of last month.
As Israel’s air defenses, including Iron Dome, activated and shot down Hezbollah rockets, loud noises were heard in Haif, a port city north of Tel Aviv. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declared a state of emergency across the country for 48 hours. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately announced a hardline response policy at an emergency meeting of the security cabinet, saying, “If someone harms us, we will harm them.”
Airstrikes from both sides subsided by early afternoon. Immediately after declaring a state of emergency, Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) temporarily suspended flight operations at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport, but takeoffs and landings resumed about an hour later.
Lebanese authorities announced that three people were killed and two wounded in the country. The Israeli military said a sailor on board the ship was killed by fragments from an interceptor missile and two other soldiers were wounded.
Assessments from both sides on the day were mixed. The Israeli military said in a statement that Hezbollah attempted to attack Ben-Gurion Airport, but the attack was thwarted by a preemptive airstrike. Minister Gallant said: “The enemy planned to fire hundreds of rockets, but thanks to the preemptive strike, more than 50%, or about two-thirds, were not launched.”
On the other hand, Hezbollah leader Nasrallah dismissed Israel’s preemptive strike as ineffective, saying: “All drones were successfully launched and entered Israeli airspace.”
The international community urged restraint, fearing that the situation in the Middle East could escalate into an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Reporter Choi Ye-seul smarty@kmib.co.kr
