Mideast tensions escalate: Israel launches airstrikes on Lebanon amid Hezbollah threat

Aug. 25, 2024, 5:49 p.m.

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Early Sunday, Israel launched a series of airstrikes across southern Lebanon, calling it a preemptive action to thwart a significant rocket and missile attack by Hezbollah. The militant group claimed to have fired hundreds of rockets and drones in retaliation for the killing of a top commander last month.

By mid-morning, both sides ended the intense exchange of fire, suggesting no immediate escalation. This occurred as Egypt facilitated high-level talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in the 10-month-long Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, with diplomats hoping it would ease regional tensions.

Advertisement Israel and Hezbollah said they aimed only at military targets. Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said its attack had been delayed to give cease-fire talks a chance and the target was an Israeli military intelligence base close to Tel Aviv. Hezbollah, like Hamas, is backed by Iran.

Israel’s military said one soldier with the navy was killed and two others were wounded either by an interceptor for incoming fire, or by shrapnel from one. Two Hezbollah fighters and a militant from an allied group were killed, the groups said.

Hezbollah called its attack on Israeli military positions an initial response to the killing of Fouad Shukur in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month. Nasrallah said assaults on Israel will continue “because there is still the response of (allies) Iran and Yemen.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the Israeli military successfully neutralized thousands of rockets aimed at northern Israel and intercepted drones targeting the country's heart.

“I repeat — this is not the end of the story,” he added. Israeli President Isaac Herzog told CBS that Israel’s actions “prevented an escalation to a major war” but the threat remained.

Flights diverted as air raid sirens wail

Air raid sirens were reported throughout northern Israel, and Israel’s international airport closed and diverted flights for about an hour. Israel’s Home Front Command later lifted restrictions in most areas.

An Israeli military spokesman, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, said Hezbollah intended to hit targets in northern and central Israel. He said initial assessments found “very little damage” but the military remained on high alert. He said around 100 Israeli aircraft took part in the strikes.

Advertisement Hezbollah said its attack involved more than 320 Katyusha rockets aimed at multiple sites in Israel and a “large number” of drones. It said the operation targeted “a qualitative Israeli military target that will be announced later” as well as “enemy sites and barracks and Iron Dome (missile defense) platforms.”

Hezbollah said the strikes would allow it to launch more attacks deeper into Israel, but a later statement said “military operations for today have been completed.” It dismissed Israel’s claim to have thwarted a stronger attack. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah provided evidence for their claims.

Some Israelis were shaken. In the northern city of Acre, retired teacher Saadia Even Tsur, 76, said he was at the synagogue when his bedroom was damaged and arrived home five minutes later. “I went up and saw the size of the miracle that happened to me,” he said. A window was broken and debris was on his bed.

Advertisement Lebanon’s caretaker Economy Minister Amin Salam, after an emergency government meeting, said officials were “feeling a bit more optimistic” about a de-escalation. “We feel more reassured since both sides confirmed that the expected operations ended,” he said.

President Joe Biden was “closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon,” according to Sean Savett, a spokesman for the National Security Council. The Pentagon said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown, is on a regional visit that includes Israel, Egypt and Jordan.

All-out war apparently averted for now

Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Institute, called the exchange of fire “still within the rules of engagement and unlikely at this point to lead to an all-out war.”

Advertisement Danny Citrinowicz, an expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Hezbollah might be trying to “balance the equation without escalating into war.” Each side hopes their narrative will be sufficient for them to declare victory and avoid a wider confrontation, he said.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after the start of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost daily, displacing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border.

Hezbollah, which fought Israel to a stalemate in 2006, is believed to be far more powerful now. The United States and Israel estimate it has some 150,000 rockets and is capable of hitting anywhere inside Israel. The group has also developed drones capable of evading Israel’s defenses, as well as precision-guided munitions.

Israel has pledged a forceful response to any significant attack by Hezbollah. The country possesses a comprehensive, multi-layered missile defense system and is backed by a U.S.-led coalition that helped it neutralize hundreds of missiles and drones launched from Iran earlier this year. In recent weeks, the U.S. military has been increasing its forces throughout the region.

Hezbollah is a close ally of Iran, which has also issued threats of retaliation against Israel for the recent killing of a senior Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last month. Israel has remained silent on its potential involvement.

On Sunday, Iranian state media reported the Hezbollah attack as a successful operation, although there was no official statement from Iranian authorities.

The U.S. and other international players see a ceasefire in Gaza as critical to prevent a larger conflict in the Middle East. Hezbollah has stated that it will stop its attacks on Israel if a ceasefire agreement is reached.

Egypt was hosting high-level talks in Cairo on Sunday aimed at bridging the gaps in a proposal for a truce and the release of scores of hostages held by Hamas. The talks include CIA director William Burns and David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.

Hamas sent a delegation to receive information from Egyptian and Qatari mediators. However, they were not directly involved in the negotiations.