Tel Aviv: Israel launched pre-emptive strikes in Lebanon on Sunday after detecting preparations for “large-scale” attacks by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The Israeli military warned its citizens to expect incoming missiles and drones launched by Hezbollah, with air alert sirens sounding across the country’s north. Hezbollah issued a statement shortly after announcing a large-scale operation, videos of which were making rounds on the internet.
“Hezbollah has just launched over 150 projectiles from Lebanon toward Israeli territory. We target terrorist infrastructure, they target civilians,” the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said in a social media post on X.
The Middle East has been on edge for weeks after Hezbollah and Iran vowed to respond to an Israeli strike in Beirut that killed a senior commander of the group as well as the assassination in Tehran of Hamas’s political leader, also blamed on Israel.
In a message addressed to the residents of southern Lebanon early Sunday morning, the Israeli military said: “We are monitoring Hezbollah’s preparations to carry out large-scale attacks on Israeli territory near your homes. You are in danger. We are attacking and eliminating Hezbollah threats.
“Anyone who is near areas where Hezbollah operates should leave immediately to protect themselves and their families,” the message posted on Telegram said. In a separate statement released shortly before 5:00 am, the military said its jets were striking targets in Lebanon “that posed an imminent threat” to Israelis.
Announcing the strikes in a video released at the same time, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that “Hezbollah will soon fire rockets, and possibly missiles and UAVs, towards Israeli territory”.
“From right next to the homes of Lebanese civilians in the south of Lebanon, we can see that Hezbollah is preparing to launch an extensive attack on Israel, while endangering the Lebanese civilians” he added, urging civilians there “to move out of harm’s way”. “Hezbollah’s ongoing aggression risks dragging the people of Lebanon, the people of Israel, and the whole region into a wider escalation.”
