- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that more than 100 rocket launchers prepared for imminent attacks on Israel were destroyed. These launchers contained an estimated 1,000 rocket barrels scattered across Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. In addition, several Hezbollah buildings and a weapons depot were also targeted.
- The airstrikes come just a day after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed revenge for a series of unprecedented and deadly attacks against Hezbollah activists. Speaking in his first public address since the attacks, Nasrallah accused Israel of blowing up communications equipment of Hezbollah activists in Lebanon, resulting in 37 deaths and nearly 3,000 injuries.
- Nasrallah described the attacks as “genocide” and warned Israel of “harsh retaliation and just punishment.” The Hezbollah chief claimed Israel would be attacked regardless of where it expects to be attacked and wherever it does not expect to be attacked. During his speech, Israeli fighter jets roared over Beirut, breaking the sound barrier.
- Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Galant warned that the country was entering a “new phase of the war”, indicating that the conflict, previously centered around Gaza, was now spreading to the northern border with Lebanon.
- Hezbollah, backed by Iran, has been a staunch ally of Hamas, the Palestinian group at the center of the war in Gaza, since an October 7 attack that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel, most of them civilians. The conflict has now turned into a regional confrontation, with Hezbollah carrying out daily attacks against Israeli communities along the northern border, prompting retaliatory strikes from the IDF.
- The mass evacuation has been triggered by exchanges of gunfire between Israel and Hezbollah along the border, forcing thousands of civilians living on both sides of the border to flee their homes. Communities along Israel’s northern frontier are now subject to strict military guidelines, with residents instructed to stay close to bomb shelters, avoid large crowds and minimise movement outside.
- “This new phase of the war presents significant opportunities but also significant risks,” Gallant said, adding that Hezbollah “feels persecuted” and that the group will pay a “heavy price” for its aggression.
- The airstrikes on Thursday came after a massive rocket attack by Hezbollah targeting Israel’s northern communities. Damage in the town of Metula, on the Lebanese border, was described as “huge”, with the rockets destroying homes and causing fires. Israeli emergency services said there were no casualties.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on all parties to exercise restraint and urged both Israel and Hezbollah to avoid actions that could further escalate the conflict. The Biden administration has struggled to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and now faces the additional challenge of preventing the conflict from spreading further across the Middle East.
- Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib condemned the Israeli airstrikes as “a blatant attack on Lebanon’s sovereignty and security”. He warned that the escalation of the attack risked sparking a wider regional conflict. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards vowed a “strong response” to Israel’s actions.