Israel launches airstrikes in Lebanon on Hezbollah targets

Israel launched a series of intensive airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday morning, calling it a pre-emptive attack against the Militant group Hezbollahthreatening to spark a broader regional war that could torpedo efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza. Hezbollah later announced early Sunday that it had launched a large-scale drone strike on Israel.

The Israeli military said Hezbollah was planning to fire a heavy barrage of rockets and missiles at Israel. The Iranian-backed group has vowed to take revenge for The Murder of Israel from a senior commander late last month.

“We have carried out precise strikes in Lebanon to thwart an imminent threat to the citizens of Israel,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement. “We are closely following developments in Beirut and we are determined to use all means at our disposal to defend our citizens.”

Hezbollah said Sunday that the strike targeted “a high-quality Israeli military target to be announced later” as well as “a number of enemy sites, barracks and Iron Dome platforms.” Hezbollah said the strikes were an initial response to the killing of Fuad Shukr, a senior commander of the group.

In an earlier statement, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari accused Hezbollah of “preparing to fire rockets and missiles into Israeli territory.”

“In a self-defense action to eliminate these threats, the (Israeli army) is striking terrorist targets in Lebanon from which Hezbollah planned to carry out attacks against Israeli civilians,” Hagari said, warning that “Hezbollah will soon fire rockets, and possibly rockets and UAVs, into Israeli territory.” Shortly after the warning, sirens sounded in northern Israel.

The Israel Airports Authority said it had temporarily suspended flights to and from Ben Gurion International Airport. Flights already en route to Ben Gurion were diverted to other airports.

Lebanese media reported strikes in the south of the country without immediately giving more details. Social media images showed what appeared to be strikes in southern Lebanon.

In his statement, Hagari said: “We can see that Hezbollah is preparing for a large-scale attack on Israel, endangering Lebanese civilians.”

Hagari did not provide additional details about the intelligence he cited.

“We are warning civilians in areas where Hezbollah is active that they must immediately move out of the danger zone for their own safety,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office posted photos of Netanyahu and Gallant overseeing the operation from the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv.

Gallant’s office also said in a statement that he had declared a state of emergency for Israel, allowing the Israeli Defense Forces “to issue instructions to the citizens of Israel, including limiting gatherings and closing locations where relevant.”

Gallant also said he had spoken by telephone to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to inform him about the attacks.

The attack comes as delegations from the US, Israel, Qatar and Egypt hold ceasefire talks in CairoA Hamas delegation was also expected in Cairo, but senior Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawy stressed to The Associated Press that the group would not participate directly in Sunday’s talks but would instead be briefed by Egypt and Qatar.

The fear has been great in recent weeks that the War between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip could escalate into a regional conflict after the Israeli attack that killed Fuad Shukr of Hezbollahand a suspected Israeli assassination operation in Iran has killed a Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Earlier this month, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said, said the US was preparing for a possible attack by Iran and its allies in retaliation for these killings.

The USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier equipped with F-35 fighter jets, and the USS Georgia, a guided missile submarine, have recently been deployed to the Middle East in response.