Beirut/Jerusalem: The Israeli military launched heavy bombardment to target Hezbollah sites on Thursday, according to Lebanese military sources. The sudden strikes came just a day after Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, vowed revenge for what he described as a series of unprecedented and deadly attacks against Hezbollah men.
Nasrallah accused Israel of detonating communication devices belonging to Hezbollah operatives across Lebanon which resulted in 37 deaths and nearly 3,000 injuries. Israel pounded sites with rocket launcher consists of a multi-barreled weapon that can fire unguided rockets.
In addition to the launchers, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it struck “additional terrorist infrastructure sites, consisting of approximately 1000 barrels that were ready to be used in the immediate future to fire toward Israeli territory.”
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Israel carried out at least 52 strikes in the south of Lebanon between 9 PM and 10 PM local time.
The intense barrage followed attacks earlier in the week attributed by Lebanon and Hezbollah to Israel that blew up Hezbollah radios and pagers, killing 37 people and wounding about 3,000 in Lebanon.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The sources, who spoke anonymously, said that "the planes on Thursday dropped about 150 air-to-ground missiles", adding that the casualties and damage caused by the intensive raids, "the most violent since October 8", are not yet known, Xinhua news agency reported. The Israeli military said the Air Force had struck "100 rocket launchers, consisting of approximately 1,000 barrels.
"After hours of intensive strikes that began in the afternoon, the Israeli military announced just before midnight that the operation was complete. The Lebanese sources said that about 50 Katyusha rockets were launched from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.
The exchange of fire occurred amidst two consecutive days of deadly explosions of pagers and communication devices across Lebanon allegedly carried out by Israel, which resulted in at least 37 fatalities and 2,931 injuries.
These developments marked the latest escalation of ongoing conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border that began on October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel's retaliatory artillery fire and airstrikes into southeastern Lebanon. The conflict has already caused heavy casualties and displaced tens of thousands on both sides. (With agency inputs)
