Israel strikes targets in Lebanon as Hezbollah launches deepest rocket attacks since Gaza war began | Lebanon

The Israeli military says it has carried out airstrikes on hundreds of targets in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah launched its heaviest rocket attacks on Israel since the Gaza war began, fueling fears of a wider conflict.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported Saturday night that they carried out two waves of attacks – one targeting some 290 targets and a second targeting 110 locations – in southern Lebanon, as sirens sounded warning of Hezbollah rocket attacks in dozens of towns in northern Israel.

About 10 rockets are believed to have crossed from Lebanon, most of which were intercepted, the IDF said. Israeli emergency medical services reported that a man was lightly injured by shrapnel from a rocket intercepted in a village in the Lower Galilee.

Hezbollah posted on its Telegram channel early Sunday morning that it had struck Israel’s Ramat David air base near Haifa with dozens of rockets in response to what it described as “repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon.”

The air base is the furthest target the Lebanese group has attacked in Israel since fighting began in October, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the Lebanon-Israel border.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant delivered a speech at Ramat David air base on Wednesday, telling air force personnel that Israel’s war with Hezbollah had entered a “new phase.” He also praised the military’s Mossad intelligence service for its “outstanding performance” in the region, just hours after a wave of attacks hit Lebanon, hitting walkie-talkies commonly owned by Hezbollah members. Wednesday’s attack, in addition to an earlier operation targeting pagers, left 42 dead and more than 3,000 wounded. Israel is believed to be behind the operation, though it has not officially claimed responsibility.

On Saturday, Israel closed its northern airspace in anticipation of retaliation by Hezbollah for the killing of Ibrahim Aqil, a veteran commander of the elite Radwan unit, along with more than a dozen other militants.

On Saturday, Israel closed its northern airspace in anticipation of retaliation by Hezbollah for the killing of Ibrahim Aqil, a veteran commander of the elite Radwan unit, along with more than a dozen other militants.

Three children and seven women were among 37 people killed in an Israeli raid on Beirut on Friday, targeting Hezbollah’s top leader in a densely populated neighborhood, Lebanese authorities said.

US and UN officials are warning of further escalation. Airlines including Air France, Turkish Airlines and Aegean have canceled flights to Beirut, fearing a tumultuous week has pushed the region closer to full-blown war.

Israel has not visibly slowed its war in Gaza to focus on the north. On Saturday, its forces bombed a school that had been converted into a shelter, killing at least 22 and wounding 30, mostly women and children, Gaza’s health ministry said. The Israeli military said the target was a Hamas base inside the school, without providing details or evidence.

Last week, however, Israel said it was expanding its strategic goals for the Gaza war to include the return of 60,000 evacuated residents of northern Israel to their homes, which are regularly targeted by Hezbollah, and subsequently unleashed an unprecedented series of attacks on the group.

The U.S. State Department on Saturday urged Americans in Lebanon to leave. “Due to the unpredictable nature of the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including Beirut, the U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens to leave Lebanon while commercial options are still available,” it said in an updated advisory. “At this time, commercial flights are available but at reduced capacity. If the security situation deteriorates, commercial options to leave may no longer be available,” it added.

In late July, the US raised its travel advisory for Lebanon to the highest classification of “do not travel” after an attack in southern Beirut killed a Hezbollah commander.

Hezbollah began carrying out attacks in support of its ally Hamas after October 7 and has indicated that it will stop attacking Israel once the offensive in the Gaza Strip ends unless Israel continues shelling Lebanon.

Months of rocket and drone attacks have killed at least 23 soldiers and 26 civilians, effectively turning the Israeli border areas near Lebanon into a strategic buffer zone that is too dangerous for normal life.

In Lebanon, more than 500 people have been killed by Israeli strikes, most of them fighters from Hezbollah and other armed groups, but more than 100 civilians have also been killed.

Israel has not visibly slowed its war in Gaza to focus on the north. On Saturday, its forces bombed a school that had been converted into a shelter, killing at least 22 and wounding 30, mostly women and children, Gaza’s health ministry said. The Israeli military said the target was a Hamas base inside the school, without providing details or evidence.

With Agence France-Presse and Associated Press