Aug. 25 (UPI) — The Israeli Defense Forces “proactively and broadly” struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah preparations to fire missiles and rockets toward the nation Sunday. Immediately afterward, Hezbollah said it launched 320 rockets and several drones. IDF said approximately 200 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward Israel with no reports of injuries so far. Israeli military told CNN that “very little damage was sustained” and that it was unaware of any impacts on military bases or targets in central Israel.
About 100 of Israel’s fighter jets initially “struck and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels” across dozens of launch sites, IDF said. Then there were further strikes.
“We are removing threats against the Israeli home front,” IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a press briefing. “Dozens of jets are currently striking targets in various locations in southern Lebanon. We are continuing to remove threats, and to intensively strike against the Hezbollah terrorist organization.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who convened a meeting with cabinet members Sunday morning, said preemptive strike was not “the end of the story.” “Hezbollah tried to attack the State of Israel with rockets and drones,” the prime minister said. “We instructed the IDF to carry out a powerful, preemptive strike to eliminate the threat. “The IDF destroyed thousands of short-range rockets, and all of them were aimed at harming our citizens and our forces in the Galilee. In addition, the IDF intercepted all the drones that Hezbollah launched at strategic targets in the center of the country.” The Hezbollah terror group said two of its members were killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes. Their deaths bring the terror group’s toll since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip in October to at least 430. “Israel is hitting Hezbollah with surprising, crushing blows. Three weeks ago we eliminated its chief of staff [Shukr],” Netanyahu said. “Today we foiled its attack plan. [Hezbollah’s Hassan] Nasrallah in Beirut and [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei in Tehran should know that this is another step on the path to changing the situation in the north and returning our residents safely to their homes.”
Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said in a televised speech Sunday night said the latet attack has been completed, but further strikes could be carried out in the future.
He said Israel’s airstrikes were “aggression, not preemptive action.” The United States helped Israel track incoming Hezbollah attacks, according to a US defense official. The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group has joined the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Middle East.
The cumulative Hamas toll since Oct. 7 is now at least 40,405 killed and 93,468 injured, according to the health ministry.
The death toll among Israeli troops since the start of the unprovoked Hamas Gaza ground invasion on Oct. 27 now stands at 337, and at 700 on all fronts since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre, according to official military data.
NN: We are talking about the Hamas War they started. Again obviously they are getting their Islamic asses kicked… A kill ratio of 70 to 1. They want to be martyred for the cause…. No problem…….