Emergency in Israel after Lebanon strikes spike tensions

The Israeli military said its fighter jets attacked thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers in south Lebanon on Sunday that were aimed at northern and central Israel.

West Asia has been on edge for weeks after Hezbollah and Iran promised to respond to an Israeli strike in Beirut that killed a senior commander of the group as well as the assassination in Tehran of Hamas’s political leader, also blamed on Israel. As the “pre-emptive Israeli strikes” escalated tensions in the region, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced a 48-hour nationwide state of emergency.

“The declaration on the state of emergency enables the IDF (Israeli military) to issue instructions to the citizens of Israel, including limiting gatherings and closing sites where it may be relevant,” Gallant said, in a statement issued by his office.

Hezbollah in turn “fired hundreds of rockets and UAVs towards northern Israel”, most of them after Israel launched its attack, Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters. The fire from Hezbollah was “part of a larger attack that was planned and we were able to thwart a big part of it this morning”, Shoshani said.

“I am convinced that there is a high probability of an attack against the civilian population in areas of the country where the declaration of a special situation did not apply,” he said, referring to previous local emergency measures. “I hereby declare a special situation on the home front in other areas of the country. The situation is valid for 48 hours starting at 6:00 am,” Gallant said. In a separate statement, the defence ministry said Gallant briefed US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on the overall situation. “We have conducted precise strikes in Lebanon in order to thwart an imminent threat against the citizens of Israel,” Gallant told Austin, according to the statement. “We are closely following developments in Beirut, and we are determined to use all the means at our disposal in order to defend our citizens.”

Hezbollah said Sunday it had launched more than 320 rockets at Israel overnight, targeting a string of military positions, even as Israel’s military said it was carrying out pre-emptive strikes against the group.

“The number of Katyusha rockets launched until now is more than 320… towards enemy positions,” a Hezbollah statement said, adding it had targeted 11 Israeli bases and barracks. The group said the “first phase has ended with total success”, adding that this phase sought to “target Israeli barracks and positions to facilitate the passage of attack drones towards targets” deep inside Israel.

The United States said Saturday it would “keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself”. At President Joe Biden’s direction, “senior US officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts,” US National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said in a statement. “We will keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, and we will keep working for regional stability.”

The Pentagon said late Saturday that the United States was “postured to support” the defence of its ally. “We continue to closely monitor the situation and have been very clear that the US is postured to support the defense of Israel,” a Pentagon spokesman said in a statement. (News18)

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