ISRAELI jets destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers in “preemptive” strikes as the group launched a revenge attack for the assassination of a senior commander last month.
Hezbollah intended to fire thousands of rockets toward the north and center of Tel Aviv, Israel claims, but managed to launch only a few hundred missiles after IDF strikes foiled its plans.
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An explosion in Lebanon last night as Israel launched airstrikes against Hezbollah targetsCredit: Reuters
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A Hezbollah drone was attacked this morning by Israel’s Iron Dome defenses
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An Israeli fighter jet drops flares today over an area near the Lebanese-Israeli borderCredit: EPA
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Hezbollah is Iran’s largest terrorist proxy army
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commanders ordered the attack around 4:30 a.m. local time after discovering preparations for a major attack by the Lebanon-based terrorist group.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said 100 warplanes attacked over 40 launch sites in southern Lebanon in an “act of self-defense.”
For 10 months since the war broke out in the Gaza Strip, Israel has engaged in mutual attacks with Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas.
But yesterday’s attacks were the biggest escalation launched by the group since last year’s attacks from Gaza on October 7 and sent tensions in Israel soaring.
It threatens to trigger an all-out war that could involve the United States, Iran and militant groups across the region.
Israel estimates the group managed to fire only 250 drones and missiles towards the north with “very little” damage after pre-emptive strikes.
Its Iron Dome and David’s Sling anti-aircraft defenses reportedly removed all threats to populated areas and many missiles landed harmlessly on open ground.
IDF spokesman Nadav Shoshani said that “This is part of a larger attack that was planned, and we were able to thwart a large part of it this morning.”
However, the IDF later revealed that a navy soldier had been killed and two wounded in fighting in northern Israel on Sunday.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah vowed the operation was only the “first phase” of a master plan to avenge the assassination of its commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut last month.
The group is believed to have attempted to destroy Israeli early warning radar sites along the border when Israeli intelligence discovered their move.
Thousands of launch tubes aimed at Israel were destroyed, including south Tel Aviv and the headquarters of the MI5 equivalent of the Mossad.
Israel warned civilians near Hezbollah launch sites to seek cover as the barrage began before dawn.
Commanders of terrorist groups are believed to have deliberately placed the launchers next to homes to use families as human shields from airstrikes.
About 80,000 Israeli civilians have evacuated from the north in the past 10 months, retired IDF General Amir Avivi told Sky News.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that Israel’s preemptive strikes “are not the end.”
He said: “Three weeks ago we eliminated his chief of staff and today we foiled his plan of attack.
“Nasrallah in Beirut [Hezbollah leader] and Khamenei in Tehran [supreme leader of Iran] you should know that this is another step on the way to changing the situation in the north, and to the safe return of our residents to their homes.
“And I repeat – this is not the end of the verse.”
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A woman stands in a building that was directly hit overnight by a rocket fired from Lebanon, today in the northern Israeli city of AcreCredit: Alamy
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People sit by the broken windows of a damaged apartment building in AcreCredit: Reuters
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A building hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon in AcreCredit: Alamy
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A video shared by the IDF shows one of their pre-emptive strikes in LebanonCredit: Reuters
Hezbollah, Iran’s largest proxy force in the Middle East, claims to have hit 11 Israeli military targets.
Flights were also canceled from Israel’s primary Ben Gurion airport as the chaos unfolded – although they have since resumed.
Daniel Hagari said, “We are ready to do whatever it takes to defend the people of Israel.”
He later revealed that IDF warplanes “attacked and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah firing canisters, most of them aimed at the north of the country and some at central Israel.”
The Sun warned a few days ago that Hezbollah is planning a major attack on Israel.
Analysts tracking years of military activity in southern Lebanon have warned that October 7 could soon look “like a picnic” if and when terrorists decide to unleash inferno.
Experts told The Sun that civilians in Lebanon could end up paying the price for another war in the Middle East – just as tens of thousands did in Gaza.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced that three people were killed in overnight strikes from Israel.
They said one was killed in an “Israeli drone attack on a car in the village of Khiam” and that an “Israeli occupation attack on the village of Tiri” killed two.
The Amal group – an ally of Hezbollah – later said the militant from Khiam had been killed.
It is not clear whether the other two were civilians or militants.
Some 605 people have been killed in Lebanon as a result of cross-border attacks between Israel and Hezbollah – and AFP estimates that around 131 of them were civilians.
Israeli officials in the north – including the occupied Golan Heights – said at least 23 soldiers and 26 civilians were killed.
Netanyahu said after the attack: “This morning we identified Hezbollah’s preparations to attack Israel.
“In consensus with the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the IDF General Staff, we have ordered the IDF to initiate action to eliminate the threat.
“Since then, the IDF has taken strong measures to thwart the threats. He destroyed thousands of rockets that were aimed at northern Israel.
“It prevents many other threats and takes very strong measures – both defensively and offensively.
“Citizens of Israel, I ask that you comply with the instructions of the IDF High Command.
“We are determined to do everything we can to defend our country, for the residents of the north to return safely to their homes, and to continue to respect the simple rule:
“Who harms us – we will harm him.”
British government minister Pat McFadden told Sky that the UK was “very concerned” by last night’s escalation and that another war in the region was a “real danger”.
“Even as this unfolds, the UK Government and the international community would urge all parties not to escalate further and to avoid a major regional war. This is the real danger facing the region,” he said.
British Airways has suspended all flights between London and Tel Aviv until Wednesday.
Israel said later on Sunday that it had hit more Hezbollah missile launchers in southern Lebanon to “remove threats”.
The United Nations said last night’s developments were “worrying” and called for a ceasefire across the war-torn region.
Recent tensions in the Middle East
Ellie Doughty, foreign news reporter
After nearly 10 months of war in Gaza, tensions have reached a new high following a series of deadly attacks and high-profile assassinations carried out by Israel in late July and early August.
On Saturday 27 July, a rocket strike fired from southern Lebanon hit a soccer field in the Golan Heights – a Druze village occupied by Israel – killing 12 young people, including children.
Both Israel and the US said Hezbollah, Iran’s largest terrorist proxy group, which operates from Lebanon, was responsible for the deadly attack.
On Monday, July 28, the IDF carried out an airstrike in the area of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, killing Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr.
Less than two days later, around 2 a.m. on Wednesday July 30, Israel killed Hamas’s top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, while he was sleeping in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
On the morning of Thursday, August 1, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that an attack in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, killed Mohammed Deif on July 13.
Dief has served as the head of Hamas’ ruthless military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, since 2002.
It marked another major loss for Iran’s terrorist proxy groups in the region.
Initial reports suggest Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a precision strike, when a rocket was fired from a drone outside his window and detonated inside the room.
Then an investigation by the New York Times revealed that a bomb had been planted in his room at the military compound where he was staying and detonated remotely.
Unnamed Iranian officials also shared an explosive theory with The Telegraph, further confusing the murky details surrounding Haniyeh’s death.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) concluded its investigation into the humiliating security breach on Saturday 1 August and said he died after a “short-range missile” was fired from outside the building.
Iran and its proxy groups; Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen have vowed to take revenge on Israel for Haniyeh’s murder.
Then on the night of Saturday, August 3rd, Hezbollah fired about thirty rockets from Lebanon towards the Galilee in northern Israel.
The impressive Iron Dome defense system in Tel Aviv went into action, destroying “most” of the missiles and no one was injured.
But the UK, US and France have urged their citizens to evacuate Lebanon as fears of a wider war in the region continue to grow.
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Smoke billows from the area targeted by Israeli airstrikes today between the villages of Zibqin and Yater on the southern Lebanese border
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Hezbollah fighters train in the Lebanese village of Aaramta
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A drone launched by Hezbollah was destroyedCredit: AFP
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Smoke rises from the southern Lebanese city of Khiam todayCredit: Reuters
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