The Israeli military said it sent 100 warplanes over Lebanon and took out thousands of rocket launchers aimed at targets in northern and central Israel. Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesman, said Hezbollah then fired hundreds of missiles and rockets at Israel. He said the damage to Israel from those projectiles appeared to be very limited and that Israel’s operation in Lebanon was essentially over for now, although both sides remain on high alert with occasional firing.
Hezbollah also said its operation on Sunday had concluded.
Although Sunday’s attacks remained within the so-called rules of engagement, they raise concerns that the near-daily trading of fire between Israel and Hezbollah for the past 10 months could at any moment escalate into a wider war. Hezbollah said its attack on Israel was the start of retaliation for the killing of its commander on July 30 in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The group said it fired more than 320 missiles, followed up by drones, to target 11 army barracks and military sites in northern Israel. Israel hasn’t confirmed the targets but sirens sounded repeatedly in the north on Sunday morning. The military there is limiting gatherings to 300 people inside and 30 people outside. It said workplaces can operate normally if they’re inside and have bomb shelters that can be reached quickly. Shoshani said Israel saw Hezbollah preparing to fire missiles and rockets and acted pre-emptively. Israel warned Lebanese civilians in the areas where Hezbollah operates to move out of harm’s way, he said. The Israeli action was limited to southern Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a security cabinet meeting and said he was “determined to do everything to defend our country, to return the residents of the north securely to their homes, and to continue upholding a simple rule: Whoever harms us – we will harm them.” The government’s delegation to talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire in Gaza was due to leave for Cairo on Sunday as planned, suggesting that those negotiations will resume. Hamas said Saturday it was sending a team to meet with mediators. Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said that “We continue to closely monitor the situation and have been very clear that the US is postured to support the defense of Israel.” He referred questions about it to the Israelis. Shoshani noted that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke by phone over the weekend and that a top US commander in the region had visited twice recently. He declined to say whether the US was given advance warning of Sunday’s attack, adding, “This was an Israeli operation.”
