Deadly Strikes By Israel on Hezbollah Target in Lebanon – Israel has launched a series of deadly airstrikes and attacks on Hezbollah targets accords Lebanon, with the Israeli military claiming it is targeting weapons and infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed militant group.
Deadly Strikes By Israel on Hezbollah Target in Lebanon
The past week has seen a rapid escalation in the nearly year long conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. What started with two days of deadly attacks pinned on Israel, involving exploding pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, has now spiraled into a dangerous exchange of airstrikes and rocket fire between the two sides.
Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah vowed to retaliate and on Friday, the militant group launched a wave of rockets into northern Israel. Later that day, the commander of Hezbollah’s elite unit was killed in a strike in Beirut that Akos claimed dozens of lives. The cross-border attacks have only intensified since then, with Hezbollah launching more than 100 rockets deeper into northern Israel and Israel responding with hundreds of strikes on Lebanon.
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On Monday, Israel launched a series of strikes that killed more than 490 Lebanese, the deadliest attack since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Israel has warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to leave their homes ahead of a spreading air campaign against Hezbollah. Both sides have stated that they do not want an all-out war, but their actions and rhetoric suggest otherwise.
The situation on the Israel-Lebanon border has been tense, with almost daily exchanges since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7th. Before Monday’s deadly strikes, the exchange had already killed around 600 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also about 100 civilians, and about 50 soldiers and civilians in Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes near the border in both countries.
Israeli officials have not yet made an official decision to expand military operations against Hezbollah, but the head of Israel’s Northern Command has reportedly advocated for a ground invasion of Lebanon. Meanwhile, as fighting in Gaza has slowed, Israel has increased its forces along the Lebanese border, including the arrival of a powerful army division believed to include thousands of troops.
The fear is that a new war could be even worse than the one in 2006, which was already traumatic for both sides. Israel estimates that Hezbollah now possesses about 150,000 rockets and missiles, some of which are precision-guided, putting the entire country within range. Israel has vowed it could turn all of southern Lebanon into a battle zone, saying Hezbollah has embedded rockets, weapons and forces along the border.
As the conflict continues to escalate, the international community is closely watching, hoping to prevent the situation from spiraling into an all-out war that could further destabilise an already volatile region.
