Most intense bombardment since 7 October show-down breaks out, targeting and destroying all Hezbollah rocket launchers and military camps. Israeli Airstrikes Target Hezbollah Strongholds. Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah Threatens Retaliation. Conflicts Escalate along Israel-Lebanon Border
International Community Urges Restraint in Deteriorating Crisis
Israel intensified its attack on southern Lebanon on Thursday, pressing one of the most brutal airstrikes in the latest development of the conflict that reaches beyond the borders in the current war. The airstrikes respond to the daily aggressive provocation by Hezbollah that had been happening along the border between Israel and Lebanon since October 7. More than 100 rocket launchers prepared by Hezbollah to attack, as well as a weapons depot and various military buildings, have been destroyed in the airstrikes launched by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
This escalation comes after Hezbollah leader
Hassan Nasrallah made his first public appearance since the start of fighting. Nasrallah accused Israel of conducting a deadly series of attacks that killed 37 Hezbollah members and injured more than 3,000. Calling these strikes a “massacre,” Nasrallah promised “tough retribution” against Israel and threatened both expected and unexpected strikes.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
Said Sunday that the conflict unfolding from Gaza is taking on the contours of a wider regional confrontation. “We are entering a new phase of the war,” Gallant warned Hezbollah, saying it will continue to pay a heavy price over its actions.
For years, Hezbollah, supported by Tehran, has been an ally of Hamas, the Palestinian group at the heart of the Gaza conflict. The constant rocket barrage has led to mass evacuations on both sides of the border, and tens of thousands of civilians have fled their homes.
Amid the heightened fears of a wider regional conflict
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged restraint and asked both Israel and Hezbollah not to let matters become worse. The Foreign Minister of Lebanon, Abdallah Bou Habib, however denounced the Israeli strikes against Hezbollah as a “violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.” Iran’s Revolutionary Guards responded with a stern warning that they would give a “crushing response” to Israel’s acts.
The situation remains unstable with higher casualties, severe damages to towns near the borders like Metula, and forebodings of a general Middle Eastern conflict.
