Hezbollah has carried out the first phase of a retaliatory strike against Israel, launching “a large number of missiles” in response to the killing of resistance commander Fuad Shukr at the end of July, according to Al Jazeera.
In a statement on Sunday, the Lebanese group reported that it had fired over 320 Katyusha rockets at 11 Israeli military bases and barracks, including the Meron base and four sites in the occupied Golan Heights.
This response, which had been anticipated for weeks, follows Israel’s targeted killings of senior commanders from Hezbollah and Hamas, raising concerns about potential regional escalation.
Hezbollah stated that the missile attacks were intended to “facilitate the passage of drones” toward targets deep inside Israel, adding, “And the drones have passed as planned.”
“Our military operation for today has been completed and accomplished,” the group said, according to Press TV.
Meanwhile, Israel launched a series of intense air raids on southern Lebanon early Sunday, describing them as “preemptive” strikes after detecting Hezbollah’s preparations to attack northern Israel.
“Most of the Israeli strikes on Lebanon were in the border area, up to 5km [3 miles] deep along the 120km [74-mile] border,” reported Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr from the Lebanese town of Marjayoun.
“The border area is now a military zone. It’s been evacuated … It’s been repeatedly hit by the Israeli army in recent months.”
While Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged attacks across the border with increasing intensity since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October, this marks a significant escalation.
A resident of the southern Lebanese town of Zibqin, about 7km (4 miles) from the border, told Reuters that it was the first time he had awakened “to the sound of planes and the loud explosions of rockets – even before the dawn prayer. It felt like the apocalypse.”
Lebanon’s NNA news agency reported that one person was critically injured in a drone attack in Qasimia, and a later Israeli airstrike killed one person in the town of Khiam.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
